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80
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Washington Post
A taut, high-velocity film that departs from the action flick template by having actual ideas.
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80
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Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Training Day can be simplistic, formulaic and absurdly melodramatic -- but Mr. Washington is flat-out great.
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75
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Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
So extreme is his mad dog behavior, indeed, that it shades over into humor: Washington seems to enjoy a performance that's over the top and down the other side.
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75
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San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
It is so propulsive so much of the time, it almost looks as if it's going to go the distance. If Washington & Co. don't quite manage to bring it home, the getting there sure is something.
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75
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USA Today Claudia Puig
With its unflinching style, Training Day can be hard to sit through at times. But it's worth the discomfort for the adrenaline rush of the plot and Washington's compelling performance.
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70
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The New York Times A.O. Scott
Mr. Washington's dry-ice grandeur -- the predator's reflexes contrasting with a pensive mouth -- deserves regard, and his powerhouse virtuosity will almost guarantee him an Oscar nomination.
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70
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Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Though Training Day doesn't resolve itself as well as it deserves and ends strictly cops-and-robbers style, it's given us some great acting and something to ponder. Not every cop show can lay claim to that.
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60
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Rolling Stone Peter Travers
But this is Washington's show, his Scarface, if you will, and his smiling, seductive monster is a thrilling creation that gives Training Day all the bite it needs.
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50
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Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
As exhausting as it is exhilarating to watch, the film in the end is less than fully satisfying.
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42
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Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
There's no denying that Washington can play a rococo villain with flip ebullience, but I fervently wish he were doing it in a movie that paid more than lip service to the real world.
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