Training Day | Tragic Comedy

Scott Hardie | May 13, 2002
[Minor spoilers...] This movie has its admirers (I know Kevin liked it), but I was disappointed. The whole point is that this world that Ethan Hawke enters is a nightmare, and we're supposed to sympathize with him. But repeatedly, he makes choices that let him stay in the nightmare, forwarding the plot but undermining his character. I couldn't buy it. I was also disappointed by the highly implausible ending, where characters get up after acts of violence that should put them in the emergency ward. The movie is shot and acted like a high-quality, realistic thriller, but look beyond the shine and it's just another dumb, implausible action movie with two tough guys posturing as they beat each other up. I'm glad that Denzel Washington got the Oscar for it (he's deserved one for years regardless of this film), but I don't think it's special in any other way. Comments?

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