2001 / 120 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Jason Jones

Well Denzel, it’s about damn time! I’ve been waiting for this performance for years. I keep hearing about your greatness and yet never see it realized. That is until now. Russell Crowe be damned. Washington gives the year’s finest lead performance. Hands down. It was such a great performance that I didn’t once think of my, now legendary, “I’m fifty years old!…” Ruben “Hurricane” Carter diatribe. That is rather extraordinary, since it used to be that whenever I thought of Denzel I would think of that tirade of mine. From now on, however, when I think of Denzel it will be for his performance as Alonzo Harris in “Training Day”.

“Training Day” is the story of a rookie cop Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), who has an idealistic view of law enforcement based on his time at the police academy. This ideology lies in stark contrast to that of his traing officer who is, of course, Alonzo Harris (Washington). Alonzo’s methods of law enforcement make Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry look like a “by the book” peace officer in comparison. He doesn’t mind enforcing the law, but only when it is in his best interests. He lures Hoyt into the seedy world of the narcotics detective by taking him to the streets. He gets Hoyt high. He takes him on illegal searches. He even rigs crime scenes to protect his men. He does whatever it takes to save his skin while also being profitable. He is a difficult character to get a grasp on and Denzel fleshes out every single aspect of this man to perfection.

“Training Day” isn’t the greatest movie, although it is very good until it’s final act when it becomes a routine, predictable police thriller. What the movie is really about is the performances. Principally Denzel’s, but Hawke is very impressive in the role of the rookie cop as well. His role is actually quite difficult, because he has to co-exist with Washington’s charismatic lead. He could have mailed it in, but instead he chooses to stand toe to toe with him and, for the most part, he does. I never much cared for either of these guys before, hence I chose not to see this movie in the theater. But, after seeing this film, I have newfound respect for the two of them.

Hawke conveys all of the subtle nuances one would expect of someone in his position. He has a wife and baby at home and he is looking to start work on his career when he gets a strong dose of reality from Harris. He reacts to life on the street with timidness, yet he still manages to muster the strength to do the right thing despite the direness of the circumstances. I shy away from saying that he is the equal of Washington in this movie, but he is probably the closest that anyone could hope to get.

Washington, on the other hand, is unhinged. I have never seen him in this light before. If there is a law to bend, or rule to break, he’s gonna do whatever it takes. Whether it’s the right thing to do or not rarely plays a factor in his decision-making process. At least right or wrong in the way we see it anyway. He plays by his own rules and he’s been doing it for long enough that it’s like second nature to him. He no longer knows where the line is between right and wrong. He crossed it a long time ago and never looked back. He even has a great introduction in a coffee house when Hawke’s character first meets him. He has some great rapid fire dialogue that makes the whole film worthwhile. Washington is clearly reveling in this role as well he should. It’s, quite likely, the sort of role he has long dreamed of portraying, but never had the opportunity to until now.

Washington has long been lusting after a Best Actor Oscar. Oftentimes, openly campaigning for the little gold guy. This has always annoyed me and I have gleefully watched as he has been denied year after year. This year, however, things are different. He has not campaigned. He has allowed the performance to speak for itself. Perhaps this shows his confidence in the performance, whereas in past years maybe he was a little uncertain of the quality of the performance, thus he felt the need to campaign. Only Denzel knows that for certain.

All I know is that, come this Sunday, I will be applauding Denzel as he makes his way to the stage to finally accept the award he has long coveted. He finally deserves it and, for once, I think the Academy’s going to get it right this time.

Even if they don’t. I know I saw the best performance of 2001 when I realized a day later that I thought of Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and not as a man on a fictional rant about being fifty years old in a prison not of his making.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 19th, 2002 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Jason's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.