Has it really been 12 years since I last saw Training Day? Sheesh. Where did the time go? What a great movie and certainly it's easily one of Denzel Washington best performances as an actor. This is a great addition to the Good Cop / Very, very, veeeeeeery Bad Cop Genre. It's easy to see what a charismatic person like Detective Alonzo Harris (Washington) can do to influence someone that is straight and narrow as Officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke). What I love about the story and the way it's written is that it all takes place within 24 hours and it starts off hitting the ground running. I think the story works (for the most part) because we are put in the shoes of Hoyt. We, the viewer, really don't know what is going on and what the main objective is to the entire movie till much later in the film. And because we have to identify with Hoyt through his eyes, it makes sense that we are kept in the dark. I also like how each "test" kept escalating to the point where even Hoyt would finally say 'enough is enough'.

Like I said, amazing job by Denzel and he absolutely earned the Oscar for this one. Hawke was great as well. With the accolades out of the way, it's time to point out a big plot hole in the film. Well, maybe not a plot hole per se, but definitely something that bothered me both times I have watched this one. How in the f*ck does Alonzo walk away from his initial beatdown, with the City Block and all the gang members surrounding him? There is no way in hell anyone, especially him, can 'talk his way out of it'. With all the threats of what he is planning to do to them, would anyone allow him to just walk? It makes no sense of human survival instinct to let him live if he is planning to "burn them down to the ground" for their "betrayal" to him. But with that said....

I get why he needed to die at the hands of the Russian Syndicate at the very end. It's fitting that he would meet his demise at the hands of the one thing that he was truly terrified of. But here's the big plot hole that really makes no sense to me. How the f*ck does the Syndicate find him in the middle of the street? Where did they come from? Now you can argue they were tracking him the entire time, but then that too wouldn't make sense either. Why track him all this time and not pop any time during the day? Well, then you can argue they still wanted their money and were bidding their time. If that is the case, then wouldn't they have gone after Hoyt as he walked off with the cash? If it weren't for these two issues I have with the ending, this would easily be a 5 Star movie for me.

Anyway, it's still a great movie with memorable performances by everyone in the film. Definitely worth a Rent.