While I did like the contrast between the two main characters, and the conflict of their clashing personalities, the ending is a bit of a disconnect. The question of "How far is too far?" comes up a lot in this, and Hawke's morality driven mindset completely clashes with Denzel's self-centered one. The thing that holds the film together though is Denzel's heel turn as Alonzo Harris. The plot's good, Hawke is alright, but the most memorable part is Denzel. While his character is incredibly brutal in his tactics, and uncaring of those around him, you feel like he wasn't always this corrupt. Like he started this job with the same intentions as Hawke, but lost his way to madness. That's a good dynamic, the part with the Russian mob though, is a bit of a drawback. It's brought up about halfway through the movie with no real introduction, and it's never fully explained. It's like the conflict that was already there is swept under the rug for this faceless mob vs corrupt cop plot. The ending is also just kind of there. Denzel gets shot by the mob and dies, after somehow escaping a neighborhood that hates him holding him at gunpoint. Had it ended with Hawke walking away, and Denzel's rant being interrupted by a bullet, I think it would've ended better. "Training Day" is an interesting film, with some concepts and performances I can appreciate, but the ending and random Russian mob plot drag it down a little for me.

It doesnt get any tougher and more real than Training Day. One of Denzel Washingtons very best performances ever. If you like dirty cop movies and you havent seen this one yet, you will be in for a real treat.

Let me start off by saying I loved this movie. It is an intense, non-stop crazy ride that feels absolutely authentic and dangerous down to every last gritty detail. Real tight direction by Antoine Fuqua. The performances are uniformly excellent, particularly by Denzel Washington in a well deserved Oscar winning performance. Give Ethan Hawke some love as well as he really stood his own with the titan Denzel. I won't divulge too much of the plot, as you can simply read the description. However, my only problem with this movie, and I've seen it twice now, is in a crucial part of story execution. I still don't understand, and maybe I'm just too dense to get it, what exactly Denzel's character did to get himself into trouble so that he ultimately had to abhorently sell out his partner.