DVD and Video Review: Training Day

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Apr 5, 2002

Training Day has received a great deal of attention since its release on DVD and video a month ago, much more than it did when it was originally released in the theatres. The timing for Training Day's release was perfect with Denzel Washington winning an Academy Award for his performance as Alonzo Harris the following week and making history as the second African-American male to ever win an Oscar for Best Actor. The DVD is currently a best-seller and a top rental. But is the hype deserved? While Training Day's story occasionally lags, it is a pretty good action movie with excellent performances.

Ethan Hawke stars as Jake Hoyt, a rookie police officer who is given one day with Alonzo Harris (Washington), to prove himself worthy to work for Harris on the city's narcotics squad. Hoyt approaches the situation naively, hoping to make detective and impress the man who could soon be his boss. However, Hoyt gets much more than expected when confronted with Harris, an aggressive and ultimately corrupt police officer. At first, Harris seems to merely be unconventional and trying to teach Hoyt a different way of approaching the streets. However, as the movie progresses, he drags Hoyt through the dirt, compromising Hoyt's ethics and life in the process without blinking an eye. It becomes clear that Harris operates the way he does, not to protect and serve the public, but to serve himself.

The film is primarily driven by the performances of its two stars. The story is nothing particularly spectacular. It is riveting and it does keep the audience intrigued, but it is similar to many cop films and uses many of the same clichés. The movie works as well as it does because of Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. If this same screenplay were done with different actors, it would likely just be a run-of-the-mill action film. Denzel Washington is excellent as Alonzo Harris and achieves brilliance in a role that is a major departure from his previous work. Audiences are used to seeing Washington play morally-upstanding, pleasant characters. In Training Day, Washington's Harris is often cruel, aggressive, and freely expresses his anger with the world. But also, like all good villians, Harris is menacingly funny. It is apparent that he is having fun with his role and it is nice to see him embracing something new. Ethan Hawke is also great as the naive rookie. While his role is not anywhere near as interesting as Washington's, he complements Washington's Alonzo Harris well and fully demonstrates how a person can unravel when put in contact with such a person.

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