THUD!
by Ed Owens

"Are you a wolf or a sheep?"

Training Day is precisely that, a single day in the lives of Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), veteran narcotics cop who works a difficult beat in the roughest Los Angeles neighborhoods, and Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), an enthusiastic rookie who sees membership in Alonzo's squad as a surefire path to detective. Alonzo essentially gives Hoyt one day to prove he's got what it takes to make it on the streets, and the film follows them as they travel around from incident to incident. By the time Alonzo asks Jake if he's a wolf or a sheep, Jake (and we) are painfully aware of just what making that decision will mean. It's an intriguing premise (or at least it must be, given that so many films center on such a narrative device), but in the hands of writer David Ayer and director Antoine Fuqua, it becomes a tedious exercise in contrivance.

At best, Alonzo's question is black and white, leaving no room for the possibility of a third choice, or even a gray area in between. The film quickly falls into the same trap, removing any moral ambiguity on the part of its characters by the third act, presumably so the audience will know who to root for, and in so doing eliminates the one thing which would have allowed the film to transcend the many problems inherent in the material.

The script plays like an amalgam of types and clichés lifted from other films, a cinematic shorthand that never fully embraces any of the themes it introduces so blatantly (most of Alonzo's dialogue is like the question above, a series of platitudinous soundbites meant to make you go "Hmmm"). While the film struggles valiantly throughout, the third act collapses under its own pretentious weight, devolving into an increasingly absurd series of coincidences and events that will more likely inspire unintentional laughter than deep thought.

Fuqua directs with a pedestrian style that seems hellbent on draining the material of any potential impact. More love and attention is paid to photographing Alonzo's car than in capturing the events that are supposed to be shaping the central characters (trimming the "traveling car" shots would have shortened the film considerably, and most likely for the better). The rare attempts at style are undone by their relative infrequency, calling attention to themselves and their own sense of self-worth at the expense of the film's continuity.

Much has been (and is being) made of Washington's performance, but there's little here we haven't seen from him before. Regardless, his charismatic intensity is simply not enough to overcome the paucity of character he's given to work with. What might have begun as a strong performance becomes little more than scenery-chewing by the finale, and carries with it no appeal beyond that of watching a veteran actor at work. Hawke fares about as well, doing the best he can with the material. If any actor comes through unscathed, it's Scott Glenn, who at least gets to have some fun with a minor character.

I really wanted to like Training Day. All I can say is, thank god I saw Joy Ride immediately afterwards (more on that at some other time)...at least the day wasn't a total waste.

©2001 Ed Owens
CineScene