5
Training Day is one of those films that has a towering performance that elevates the whole movie. In this case, Denzel Washington’s portrayal of Alonzo Harris of the Los Angeles Police is so mesmerizing that many viewers have been deceived into thinking the film is actually worthy of this incredible piece of acting.
Harris is the type of character that modern audiences like. He’s a man in control, who’s decisive, has no regrets about his actions, and is highly charismatic. He’s morally dubious at best, but audiences have seen their share of anti-heroes such as Dirty Harry and John Rambo who’ve committed crimes and atrocities in the name of putting down people who are worse than they are, so Harris gets an easy pass from viewers, especially since Washington has such an incredible screen presence.
By contrast, Training Day’s moral centre is the wet-behind-the-ears Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), a young husband and father to an infant daughter. Hoyt is very much by-the-book with an idealized vision of policing and justice, which makes him considerably less interesting to many people when he’s placed next to the incredibly unpredictable and highly magnetic character that Washington plays. The rookie might be the squeaky clean guy through whose eyes the story plays out, but audiences don’t necessarily connect with him because he’s like the kid at school who would get stuffed into lockers while training officer Harris is the all-star quarterback that all the girls want as their prom date. Viewers have been conditioned to gravitate towards the flashy master and perceive the inexperienced pupil who plays it safe as being dull, automatically giving Hawke and his character the short shrift.
Washington’s portrayal as Harris carries the film, but it is unfortunately not enough to overcome issues with the writing. Screenwriter David Ayer knows where he wants the story to go, but how he gets there is both inelegant and clunky. For example, he sets up a crucial moment late in the film with an alleyway incident early on. Ayer drops certain clues in the dialogue, and he even has Harris repeat the details so they might leave a bit more of an impression on the audience. What this does, though, is call into question Harris’s plan towards the end of the second act. If he knew the bit of information from the alleyway incident, why would he not change his plan? It can be argued that the film shows him to be not as in control or perhaps not even as smart as he initially appears to be, but it’s just as likely that Harris’s oversight is the result of David Ayer needing to fit pieces together to make his story work but not having the ingenuity necessary for the plot to pay off in a satisfying rather a than clumsy manner.
Training Day is unfortunately another example of Ayer relying on coincidences and characters behaving in unbelievable ways so the story can get from point A to point B. This appears to be an issue that comes up repeatedly in his writing as End of Watch is another example of these problems. Training Day is still worth seeing for Washington’s standout performance as well as the underappreciated dynamic between Harris and Ethan Hawke’s Hoyt, but audiences should brace themselves as the film crashes and burns once it reaches its paint-by-numbers final third.
Score: 5/10; Streamed 2020-December-09.