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Movies / On DVD / Training Day
Training Day

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Training Day (2001)

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Reviews Counted:152

Fresh:109

Rotten:43

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: The ending may be less than satisfying, but Denzel Washington reminds us why he's such a great actor in this taut and brutal police drama.

Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: Every day, there is a war being waged on America’s inner city streets – a war between residents, drug dealers and the people sworn to protect one from the other. This war has its casualties, none... Every day, there is a war being waged on America’s inner city streets – a war between residents, drug dealers and the people sworn to protect one from the other. This war has its casualties, none greater than L.A.P.D. Detective Sergeant Alonzo Harris (DENZEL WASHINGTON), a 13-year veteran narcotics officer whose questionable methodology blurs the line between legality and corruption. His optimism has long since been chipped away by his tour of duty in the streets, where fighting crime by the book can get you killed, and getting the job done often requires Alonzo and his colleagues to break the laws they are empowered to enforce. A gritty, realistic drama set in the morally ambiguous world of undercover police investigation, Training Day shadows Alonzo as he tests the resolve of idealistic rookie Jake Hoyt (ETHAN HAWKE), who has one day and one day only to prove himself to his fiercely charismatic superior. Over the next 24 hours, Jake will be pulled deeper and deeper into the ethical mire of Alonzo’s logic as both men put their lives and careers on the line to serve their conflicting notions of justice. Training Day is a blistering action drama that asks the audience to decide what is necessary, what is heroic and what crosses the line in the harrowing gray zone of fighting urban crime. Does law-abiding law enforcement come at the expense of justice and public safety? If so, do we demand safe streets at any cost? Or do we risk our security by insisting that those empowered to protect us do so within the boundaries of the law? At a time when police across the nation are battling a public image of rampant corruption, narcotics use, planting evidence and excess brutality while patrolling the meanest streets of America, Training Day paints a gripping and realistic portrait of the war taking place on the urban front lines – and just how high the costs of this battle can be. -- © Warner Bros. [More]

Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger

Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Eva Mendes, Dr. Dre, Raymond J. Barry, Will Foster Stewart, Harris Yulin, Macy Gray

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Screenwriter: David Ayer
Producer: Jeffrey Silver, Robert Newmyer
Composer: Mark Mancina
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Reviews for Training Day

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
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Good to see Denzel Washington get the meaty villainous role he deserves.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
02/03/02
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's an edgy, authentic rhythm to this gritty undercover cop drama that's boosted by strong performances ... and then undermined by an appalling ending.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
06/20/02
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

The movie moves rapidly, is extremely violent and not entirely plausible.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment 2 Comments
04/09/08
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

Marred slightly by an unsatisfactory climax, this is a cracking cop drama anchored by great performances and intelligent direction from Fuqua.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Chris Hewitt (UK)
Chris Hewitt (UK)
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A brutal, fierce, and tense police thriller, Training Day takes a well-worn format and infuses it with freshness and verve.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/21/02
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Trashy cop-thriller entertainment of the highest quality: well-made and superbly acted, with Washington in line for a possible Oscar nomination.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/30/02
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

If its content is over-the-top, well, it's still engrossing.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
02/10/02
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

As if the LAPD needed any more bad publicity.

Full Review Source: FilmFour.com | comment Comment
02/26/02
FilmFour.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Fuqua keeps it slick and sleazy and stokes up the race some, but this only accelerates the movie's deafening rush toward the top and ever over.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Antoine Fuqua forcibly sets the tension very high. He keeps pounding at the story, allowing Harris to exhibit a ruthlessness that keeps us riveted.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
10/01/01
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

If he makes it through the trial by fire -- and a blandly twisting plot with no meaningful revelations or substantial themes -- Hawke will get a promotion, but there's nothing in it for us.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 2 Comments
04/09/08
Lisa Alspector
Lisa Alspector
Chicago Reader

Dares to be a cop movie based on character and not on pyrotechnics.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
10/05/01
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

There comes a point in every movie when it has to quit playing coy and let the audience know where it stands. Once Training Day takes that step, it begins to disintegrate before our eyes.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
10/04/01
Todd Anthony
Todd Anthony
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

'Are you wolf or sheep?'

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
09/13/01
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

The film works a bit better as a vehicle for Washington, and it often gets by on his devilish charm. But it loses all its punch as he becomes more hissable.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
10/05/01
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Denzel Washington tears up the screen as the personification of corrupt evil...

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
10/01/01
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

Trama interesante llena de personajes tridimensionales y sustanciosos que seguramente harán pensar al espectador en los tiempos actuales que vivimos.

Full Review Source: Moviola | comment Comment
01/15/02
Jorge Avila Andrade
Jorge Avila Andrade
Moviola

It's ugly and disturbing, but what gets us through it and pulls us along is Washington's charisma, which he gleefully uses in a darkly seductive way here.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
10/05/01
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

Riveting and intense.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
10/04/01
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

At once droll and incredibly intimidating, Washington is a knockout.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
10/04/01
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire
 
 
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