Training Day (2001)

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.

Director:

Antoine Fuqua

Writer:

David Ayer

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn

Won 1 Oscar. Another 16 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Det. Alonzo Harris
Ethan Hawke	...	Jake Hoyt
Scott Glenn	...	Roger
Tom Berenger	...	Stan Gursky
Harris Yulin	...	Doug Rosselli
Raymond J. Barry	...	Lou Jacobs
Cliff Curtis	...	Smiley
Dr. Dre	...	Paul
Snoop Dogg	...	Blue
Macy Gray	...	Sandman's Wife
Charlotte Ayanna	...	Lisa
Eva Mendes	...	Sara (as Eva Mendez)
Nick Chinlund	...	Tim
Jaime Gomez	...	Mark (as Jaime P. Gomez)
Raymond Cruz	...	Sniper

Storyline

In a city where streets are overrun by drug dealers, those who have sworn to uphold the law are breaking them to clean up the streets. Denzel Washington plays L.A.P.D. detective Alonzo Harris, a veteran narcotics officer whose methods of enforcing the law are questionable, if not corrupt. 'Training Day' follows Harris as he trains rookie Jake Hoyt over a 24-hour period. Ethical dilemmas arise for Hoyt as well as the audience as questions present themselves as to whether or not Harris' methodology for ridding the streets of South Central Los Angeles of drugs is right or wrong.

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Plot Keywords:

narc | lapd | training | drugs | narcotics | 

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Taglines:

Boom Ba-Boom, Boom, Boom...

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brutal violence, pervasive language, drug content and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros (France) Warner Bros.

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English Russian Spanish Korean

Release Date:

5 October 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Día de entrenamiento

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£739,718 (UK) (1 February 2002)

Gross:

£1,942,439 (UK) (15 February 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the scene when Jake plays cards with the Latino gangsters, director Antoine Fuqua gave certain instructions to the actors playing the gangsters, without telling Ethan Hawke. This was done to further confuse him and add to the tension of the scene.

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Goofs

After Alonzo steals the money from Sandman's wife and during the subsequent shootout between Alonzo and the residents gang members, you see the gang members run after Alonzo's car while firing their handguns. You'll notice the gangsters, who are wearing their baggy pants in they typical gangster fashion (loose and low, around their buttocks, with their underwear exposed), are running and their pants are not falling down. In reality, all the boys were wearing belts. Even without a belt, one learns to adapt to running to or from the wrong situations.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jake: It's time.

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits after the title is shown.

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Connections

Referenced in The Making of Plus One (2010)

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Soundtracks

"F**k You"
Written by Pharoahe Monch (as T. Jamerson)
Produced and Performed by Pharoahe Monch
Pharoahe Monch appears courtesy of Rawkus Records

User Reviews

Street Justice Dispensed

Ethan Hawke, bright eyed and innocent, reports to his training officer for his first day on the job in narcotics in the LAPD. He never could have fathomed just how much he would learn on that very first Training Day.

His training officer is Denzel Washington, a thirteen year veteran on the police who's put in a few years in plainclothes in Narcotics. He certainly has the experience, but just what kind of experience and what he imparts to Hawke is the subject of Training Day.

A film like Training Day will rise and fall with the performances of these two characters since one or the other and mostly both is on screen from the beginning. Fortunately both Washington and Hawke complement each other's performances like jigsaw puzzle fit.

It is no accident that Denzel Washington won his second Oscar, his first as Best Actor. This performance is working on so many levels it's astonishing. Washington is at all times, charming, capable, corrupt, violent, street smart, and arrogant. What I liked most about it is how the various facets of this character are revealed bit by bit to the audience and to Hawke though not at the same time.

As for Ethan Hawke it takes him to realize just exactly what he's dealing with in a training officer. Hawke was nominated himself as Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Jim Broadbent for Iris. Still it remains his career role so far.

Corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department isn't exactly a new story. In fact one of the supporting players, Scott Glenn who plays a drug peddler and well, did another film about LAPD corruption in Extreme Justice. LA Confidential also dealt with this issue recently, another fine film.

Denzel Washington is a great example in this film of the arrogance of power. He's a guy who dispenses more street justice than going through the traditional system. So with what happens to him here, he gets one of the best comeuppances ever seen on the big screen.

And I won't say what it is, but you've got to see Training Day to find out.