Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears.
Training Day is elevated almost entirely by Denzel Washington's tour-de-force, Oscar-winning performance as Detective Alonzo Harris — one of the most magnetic and menacing villain-protagonist turns in modern cinema. The plot itself is a fairly straightforward corrupt-cop-versus-idealistic-rookie moral gauntlet, competently constructed but not deeply original. Cinematography by Mauro Fiore is solid and gritty LA neo-noir without being especially distinctive. Novelty is moderate — the premise and setting are familiar crime-drama territory, though Washington's charisma gives it a singular charge. The ending, while satisfying in its comeuppance logic, leans on a somewhat convenient deus ex machina (the Mexicans returning the money) that undercuts dramatic tension built throughout.