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Training Day
***
Cinema Releases - February 1, 2002
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate 18. 120
minutes. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Written by David Ayer. Starring Denzel
Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Harris Yulin, Raymond
J. Barry.
"Training Day" stars Ethan Hawke
as a cop new to the narcotics division and Denzel Washington as the captain
showing him the ropes. Hawke is expecting a brief introduction to the streets
and a few pearls of wisdom; what actually takes place is a wild ride, with
Washington acting like a mad dog and Hawke looking on with wide-eyed naivete
and horror.
This is not a subtle movie. In a single day,
Washington drinks and drives, makes Hawke smoke PCP, beats up a couple of
rape suspects before turning them loose, skims the top off a $4 million seizure,
commits murder, arranges cover-ups, takes a detour to one of the most menacing
ghettos in Los Angeles for sex in the afternoon with his mistress and even
gets into trouble with the Russian mafia.
We get treated to one of those moments in which
one shot is fired and six holes appear in the victim's chest. And a scene
in which the protagonists chase a wheelchair-bound drug dealer, catch him,
search him, threaten him, and then shove a pen down his throat to make him
vomit his stash. There's a moment where Washington holds a knife to a
perpetrator's eye that has echoes of Morgan Freeman's chilling work in "Street
Smart". And then there's the climax, which includes plot twists, machine
guns and a bloodied Hawke falling onto Washington's windshield like something
out of a slasher picture.
The performances here are first-rate, especially
that of Washington, who creates a strong, tough and fearless presence --
he seems to know exactly what he's doing while committing the most out-of-control
actions. We become unsure of whether his illicit behaviour means that he
is corrupt, or whether there is method in his madness; either way, it's fun
finding out. "Training Day" has the proper atmosphere of a tough cop flick,
and if its content is over-the-top, well, it's still engrossing. This is
a movie with meat, and I appreciated it. Who wants to see a timid
thriller?
COPYRIGHT©
2002 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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