Training Day is an intensely gritty crime thriller demonstrating how easily cops can become crooked and corrupt, especially in the most dangerous (marginalized) neighborhoods. It follows detective wannabe LAPD cop Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) as he attempts to prove himself to Detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), the city’s most revered narcotics officer, in a single day before his anticipated promotion. Detective Harris shows Hoyt the reality of drug policing: talking up dealers, shaking down customers, threatening and illegally shooting perpetrators of various kinds are only some of the job’s necessitations. Over the day, Hoyt gets exposed to more dangerous circumstances in each case, getting solid advice and ugly truths. Harris certainly understands the game of the streets—”this is chess, not checkers”—but his control over them, Hoyt realizes, is violently unjust. Hoyt must find where that fine line he must walk and whether the man, technically his supervisor, should belong behind bars instead of in front of them. Morality and law don’t go hand in hand, and some who know that separation will use it however they see fit.

Training Day‘s biggest strength is its star power. Denzel Washington is a conniving, realistic representation of crooked coppery. He carries most of Training‘s weight, providing a heavy dose of thuggish recklessness that eventually stymies his plans. Hawke also solidly portrays Hoyt, though no one compares to Washington—the writers knew that, too. Whenever Hoyt confronts Harris for his actions, the detective rationalizes them by saying the streets require it: “To protect the sheep, you gotta catch the wolf, and it takes a wolf to catch a wolf.” While that may partially be true, Training‘s pulpy action and aberrant drug bust strategies slowly demonstrate that Harris continuously lets himself go too far. This makes for bubbly, gruesome crimefighting and character unraveling, further nuanced by the perpetrator’s being Black. The more typical route would be for Hoyt to be a racist white cop terrorizing the predominantly Black neighborhoods they encounter, with Harris at least trying to diffuse Hoyt in such events. However, Harris goes all out: illegally searching people’s homes, threatening people at gunpoint, and beating or killing them senselessly only widens his smile. To be a just cop, one should toughen up enough to be able to play dirty, not get satiated by violence and control. But with each passing crime in this single day on the force, one wonders how much Harris despises it—or if he enjoys the kill.

Training Day is thus a breakneck tour through the iron fist-ruled impoverished streets of Los Angeles. It’s a bit repetitive until the climax, it’s pretty predictable, and the script occasionally feels hollow for such unstoppable actors and otherwise nuanced components. Nevertheless it’s overall a decent action flick about how easily corruptible people are, even if their power regrowssults from inflicting pain on or controlling the lives of others. For action fans, Denzel Washington fans, and those looking for a realistic representation of cops gone borderline evil, Training Day will at least entertain even in its dullest repeats.

Screens Monday, 9/30, 7:00 pm @ Coolidge Corner Theatre
Part of the ongoing repertory series: Big Screen Classics
Part of Coolidge Corner’s Coolidge Education programming: Seminar: Training Day