Training Day

This movie blew my mind! Not only was I excited to see yet another phenomenal performance from Denzel Washington, I was also ecstatic to see Denzel play the role of a sinister character. In his roles as Malcolm X, and his award winning role in Glory were the closet that I saw him come to being a bad person. In this movie, his heart is again in the correct place, but the way that he goes about showing it is to be desired.

Not only does the movie take place in one of my favorite cities, it also takes you through a day in the life of a police office in Los Angeles. The cop, Jake Hoyt, who is played by Ethan Hawke, is trying to get on an elite crime fighting task force captained by Alonzo Harris, played by Denzel Washington. Harris is a narcotics officer and is highly decorated.

From the beginning of the movie, we see that Jakes 'straight as an arrow' Robin hood act is not in agreement with Harris' way of thinking. Harris is more the type of man who lives by the code of the streets rather than the word of law. This is apparent when Harris and Hoyt stop a car loaded with white college students. Instead of arresting them and giving them a ticket, Harris confiscates the weed that the students have and instead of turning it in, he persuades Hoyt to smoke the weed that just has been confiscated. The real kicker is that the weed is laced with another narcotic, PCP, and Harris writes this of as a right of passage, saying that a real narcotics officer has to know how the drug tastes and feels in order to obtain the desired results. Though Hoyt puts up a valiant effort in order to not try the PCP laced weed, he is threatened by Harris with a gun to his temple. This, coupled with the fact that he really wants to prove himself to the officer makes him give in to temptation and peer pressure and takes a hit of the weed.

Once high off the PCP laced weed, Harris escorts Hoyt to the home of a known drug dealer, Roger, played by Scott Glenn. Roger and Harris attended high school together and have formed a close bond over the years since graduation. During this visit, Hoyt notices a female high school student being raped in an alley. Hoyt reacts and stops the two from getting what they were looking for. All this while Harris just watches until he steps in and tells the girl to go straight home and instead of arresting the men who provoked the attack, he proceeds to intimidate them and finishes them off by pistil whipping one of the men in the testicles. Harris confiscates the crack that he finds on them. Hoyt finds the girls wallet and sticks it in his pocket.

As the remainder of the day shoots along, Harris shows Hoyt more and more of his dirty deeds and drags him further and further into the world of corruption. The movie shows Harris harassing a known drug dealer named Blue, played by Snoop Dogg. From Blue, Harris obtains information about a larger, more popular dealer named Sandman. Going to Sandman's home and searching it without a warrant, while Sandman's wife, played by Macy Gray, is still in the house. Not finding anything worth while, Harris takes Hoyt to The Jungles to meet Harris' hot Latino girlfriend and his son.

When Alonzo meets with three high-ranking police officers, Stan Gursky, Doug Rosselli, and Lou Jacobs, otherwise known as the "Three Wise men," After the meeting, it is clear from their conversation that Harris has bigger problems than breaking in a new rookie.

The movie cumulates when Harris is driving around the LAX airport area when hooded men from the Russian mafia who open fire on his car, kill him, and surround him. The movie ends with Hoyt pulling into his driveway and going home to his family, while a radio broadcast tells of Harris' death, reporting it as occurring 'in the line of duty' during the drug raid earlier that day.
Denzel Washington went on to win an Academy Award for acting for his role in the film.