Ethan Hawke is Jake Holt, a beat cop hoping to earn the coveted Detective’s shield by passing muster under the watchful eye of Sargent Alonzo Harris for one day in "Training Day." Denzel Washington delivers an explosive performance as Harris, a fast talking, sharp tongued, street wise, narco-cop at the top of his game. Holt and Harris are the yin and yang of the L.A.P.D. - the new recruit and the seasoned veteran - the idealist and the realist - good cop and bad cop. One is white, the other black - a racial divide that Harris uses to push a hidden agenda. The contrast between the men is reinforced by the approach each actor brings to his role. Washington overplays the volatile personality of Harris, while Hawke underplays Holt’s insecurity.

Jake is so intent on winning the charismatic Harris’s favor, he commits one minor infraction of the law after another thinking that it’s all part of the top cop’s litmus test. Suddenly Jake is as unsure of himself as he is of Harris. His own sense of moral pride begins to disintegrate. When Harris begins to cross the line, Jake finds himself willing to look the other way. Once he blindly gives Harris his trust, he finds himself embroiled in a murder scheme involving a snitch, the Russian mob and people in high places. Not until then is the true mettle of his moral character is put to the test.

Denzel Washington almost steals the movie with screenwriter David Ayer’s rapid fire dialogue and abrupt transitions but it is Ethan Hawke’s low key presence that keeps "Training Day" on track. His Jake Holt is an observer soaking up his surroundings, making judgements, and contemplating strategy. He survives his baptism by fire with the subtlety of a snake slithering out from under a rock. When Jake is pushed into a corner he finally rears up his head to show his fangs. You’re surprised but not shocked. Jake Holt is one tough cop - not for what he can dish out but for what he can take.

Action director Antoine Fuqua ("Fast and the Furious") keeps things moving at a brisk pace pausing at every turn just long enough to let the audience catch its breath before yanking their chain and thrusting them headlong back into the plot. He‘s not afraid to let the camera mingle at crucial moments to let the audience imagine what’s going on behind Jake Holt’s darting eyes. Fuqua pumps up the action when Harris’s world begins to unravel and Holt is forced to rely on his gut instincts for survival. "Training Day" has a message about the nature of evil wrapped up in its morally ambiguous ending. In order to face evil, one must be able to recognize it. In order to recognize evil, one must experience it. In order to survive evil, one must avail oneself to any means necessary or pay the price of co-existing with it.

Copyright 2001

"L.A. Confidential" (1997) - Dir. Curtis Hanson: A bona fide classic from the moment of its release about corruption in the L.A.P.D. in the fifties. Kevin Spacey is a prima donna whose exploits fuel the tabloids and a top TV cop show. Russel Crowe is the hot headed strong arm of his local precinct and Guy Pearce is the do-gooder who wants to play it by the book. Kim Basinger won an Oscar as a high priced call girl. The rest of the outstanding cast includes Danny DeVito, James Cromell, David Strathairn, and Ron Rifkin. Brian Helgebrand also won an Oscar for his screenplay based on James Elroy’s book. Sensational!

"Internal Affairs" (1990) - Richard Gere is a stand out as one of the most vicious cops imaginable who knows how to exploit the moral weakness of his peers for his own gain. Andy Garcia is the good cop who’s out to nail him. This one’s as bleak as they come as one might expect from the director who went on to make "Leaving Las Vegas" - Mike Figgis

"Colors" (1988) - Dir. Dennis Hopper: Robert Duvall is the veteran cop who tries to control his new hot headed partner, Sean Penn in this realistic look at gangland LA in the eighties.

"Nighthawks" (1981) - One of Sylvester Stallone’s best! He and Billy Dee Williams are two N.Y.C. cops attached to a special unit out to get terrorist Rutger Hauer. Top notch thriller with plenty of surprises.

"Foster and Laurie" (1975) - One of the better TV movies. Dorian Harewood and Perry King play Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie, two of New York’s finest who were shot down unmercifully by Black militants on the Lower East Side. Shows efforts of the Police Department to track their killers and uses flashbacks to highlight their exemplary lives at home and in the community they served.

"Busting" (1974) - I forget the story but loved the actors. Elliot Gould and Robert Blake are two undercover vice cops who don’t always seem to know what they’re doing.

"The New Centurions" (1972) - George C. Scott is the veteran cop who lives for his work who teams up with new recruit Stacey Keach. Terrific performances and a thoroughly believable screenplay from veteran TV writer Stirling Silliphant make this worthwhile. Based on a novel by Joesph Wambaugh and directed by Richard Fleischer ("The Boston Strangler" - 1968).