Training Day: Review By Solar XI

Seeing a line of police crime dramas since its release, Training Day is one of the few films in the last decade to stand for originality and outstanding acting from the film's two leads Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke.

Jake Hoyt (Hawke) is a young LAPD officer who, over the course of the day, undergo an intense amount of training from a "veteran" Narcotics officer named Alonso Harris (Washington). During the day, Hoyt will infiltrate the mean streets of Los Angeles encountering a numerous amount of problems usually caused by Harris while deciding to become the sheep or the wolf (metaphorically). From the start, Harris critiques Hoyt based on his statistics after reviewing his profile and the two begin their adventurous day. This day includes murder, learning of Harris' deep corruption and his mysterious ambition while learning the fear and respect of the local residents of Harris' community.

From the start you can see Hoyt's readiness to take on a new life and career and through the film you pretty much feel bad for him. Seeing Hoyt talked into doing things against his will or taking verbal abuse, you begin to wonder what Hoyt's next move will be. With Harris as no help due to his status, the characters throw you off.

Antoine Fuqua experiments with the a dangerous plot which in some cases can be taken as horrible, in the wrong hands. In luck, Fuqua succeeds bringing out talent from actors we are still a bit unfamiliar with including Ethan Hawke himself. Antoine Fuqua, who is directing the upcoming Brooklyn's Finest (also starring Hawke) isn't a stranger to mainstream work. The director's roster include the Mark Wahlberg film Shooter, Bruce Willis' Tears of the Sun and the 2004 adaption of King Arthur but in all honesty Training Day is his best body of work to date.

The million-dollar script written by David Ayer is priceless. Ayer depicts his own experiences and visions of South Central, LA but what's real to him his pure entertainment to a New Yorker like myself. The film script has some amazing monologues that are informative and gives you more insight to who these characters are. I'm not to sure if the role was written for Washington, but he does one hell of a job playing the corrupt narc. We all know Denzel Washington can pull off any character he plays, we've seen his films. We love him for his sly humor and emotional monologues and that's exactly what he brings to the table for Training Day.

The film is a modest reminiscent of noir films like New Jack City and Spike Lee's Clockers. Training Day is definitely one of the best films I have ever seen and it is wonderfully done and acted terrifically. For a final word: if you have not seen Training Day, your missing out on originality.