Denzel is good. Denzel is great. Denzel can carry almost any movie. So, what hasn’t Denzel done? Be a bad guy. OK, now he’s evil in the new “Training Day.” And once again, he’s great in it. Too bad the movie isn’t.
In the movie, Denzel plays Los Angeles Detective Sergeant Alonzo Harris, a cop so evil and twisted that most of his so-called friends would stab him in the back for free. But as far as characters go in this movie, he’s the one you simply have to root for.
It’s not that Ethan Hawke (as rookie partner Jake Hoyt) isn’t any good. It’s just that he’s left with such a one-sided character that he becomes nothing more than a second thought to the audience. We understand his frustration as he encounters crooked scheme after crooked scheme, but he goes along with it all until the end, when we know he’s going to confront Harris and make a stand.
Hoyt is supposedly riding along with Harris to learn the tricks of the trade as he moves up in rank to work in narcotics. But after a few hours, Harris has him drinking beer in the car and smoking PCP, all as a setup to ensure that he goes along with the plan.
The plan is to raid a drug dealer’s home and nab his money stash. The only problem is that Harris has been buddy-buddy with the guy for years, and it’s even one of the first places that he takes Hoyt for a quick after-breakfast drink. He’s only one of many people that Harris double-crosses and tricks into trusting him.
But no matter the corruption, you have got to love Washington’s Harris. He’s the only reason to see this movie. Washington masterfully charms his way through the whole thing, and he looks like he’s having a blast doing it. This is an actor enjoying his mastery over his craft, and he grabs the part with both hands and pushes his way into a standout role in a mediocre movie.
Not that the film is all bad - in fact, the first half or so is pretty darn good, a great study in watching how far people will go to get what they want. Hoyt wants to make detective, so he’s willing to go along with whatever Harris says. Harris wants to ensure that Hoyt has to give in to his plans to rip off millions and save his own ass, so he charms him up and down, and even offers him a big cut of the money.
We even get to see the always-cool Snoop Dogg as a wheelchair-bound crack dealer. I think few people have to be told that Dogg is one of the coolest human beings on the planet, and in the few minutes he has onscreen, he is just as charismatic as he always is.
But we see the final standoff between Hoyt and Harris coming. We know that Hoyt will only take all the corruption to a point - despite the all-out performance by Hawke, we have seen this clichéd character before. When Hoyt finally confronts Harris, the only saving grace is Washington’s ability to keep his swagger going even when he’s getting his ass kicked. He’s so sure of himself, even when he gets shot in the butt, he just yells at Hoyt and lights himself a smoke.
But that confrontation could have been a dynamite climax. Instead, our final shot of Harris is disappointing and heavy-handed. It’s not at all a fitting end for a great character, and the movie would have been better served with the original standoff.
For the duration of the movie, Washington holds the weight of this picture on his shoulders, and he does it well. What may have been yet another crooked cop movie turns out to be an opportunity for a truly great actor to stretch himself in a great role. While the story is weak, in those moments when the camera is squarely on Washington, you won’t care all that much. But when you’re faced with the inevitable ending, it comes as a letdown. No matter how bad Harris may be, Washington is pure gold - If only he didn’t have to carry the rest of it on his own.
