Training Day
| Training Day | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Antoine Fuqua |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | David Ayer |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Mark Mancina |
| Cinematography | Mauro Fiore |
| Edited by | Conrad Buff |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 122 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $45 million[1] |
| Box office | $104.5 million[1] |
Training Day is a 2001 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by David Ayer, and starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. The story follows two LAPD narcotics officers over a 24-hour period in the gang-ridden neighborhoods of the LAPD Rampart Division and South Central Los Angeles.
The film was released on October 5, 2001 and grossed $104 million worldwide. Washington's performance as Detective Alonzo Harris, a departure from his usual roles, was particularly praised and earned him an Oscar for Best Actor at the 74th Academy Awards. His co-star Ethan Hawke was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as rookie cop, Officer Jake Hoyt.
Contents
[hide]Plot[edit]
Los Angeles Police Department Officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) is assigned for an evaluation headed by an experienced narcotics officer Detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington) with dirty hands. Initially, Jake does not know that Alonzo is corrupt and hopes to be promoted if the evaluation is successful. The two begin the day by catching some college kids buying cannabis from an MS-13 gang member, who also serves as an informant for Alonzo. Confiscating the drugs from the kids, Alonzo tells Jake to smoke it. Jake refuses initially, but only complies when Alonzo threatens him at gunpoint. Alonzo states that refusing like this while on the streets would easily get him killed. After paying a visit to Roger, an ex-police officer turned drug dealer, Jake notices a pair of drug addicts attempting to rape a young teenage girl in an alley. Jake intervenes whilst Alonzo watches, who then proceeds to give the two addicts the choice of either going to prison or home. Alonzo lets them free despite Jake's disapproval of this method. Jake finds the girl's wallet on the ground and takes it.
Later on in the day, Alonzo and Jake apprehend a wheelchair-bound dealer named Blue (Snoop Dogg), and by forcing him to vomit, Alonzo finds crack rocks and a loaded handgun on him. Rather than go to jail, Blue informs on his associate Kevin "Sandman" Miller, who is in prison. Using a fake search warrant, Alonzo steals $40,000 from Sandman's home in Watts with Jake in tow. Sandman's wife realizes the theft and calls out to nearby gang members who open fire on Alonzo and Jake as they flee. At lunch, the two visit Alonzo's Salvadoran mistress, Sara and their young son at Baldwin Village. After, Alonzo meets with a trio of corrupt high-ranking police officials he dubs as the "Three Wise Men". They tell Alonzo that they are aware the Russian Mafia are looking for him, and suggest that he skips town. Alonzo insists he has control of the situation and is granted permission to "cash in an account". Alonzo trades Sandman's drug money for an arrest warrant.
Traveling back to Roger's house using the obtained warrant, Alonzo, Jake, and four other narcotics officers just as corrupt as Alonzo seize $4 million from the premises. Distributing $250,000 for each narc present, Jake refuses to take his share from Alonzo. The others see this as a sign of a possible problem for the unit's corrupt methods. Alonzo instructs Jake to shoot Roger, and when he refuses to do so, Alonzo does it instead, killing him and then arranges for the scene to appear like a justified shootout. Jake wholeheartedly refuses to be a part of it, and when threatened seizes Alonzo's shotgun, prompting a Mexican standoff with the other officers. Alonzo calms his associates before telling Jake what will happen if he exposes his methods. He tells him that the LAPD will run a blood test on him which will identify the PCP-laced cannabis he smoked earlier. Alonzo promises he can falsify this in exchange for his cooperation, Jake reluctantly agrees.
Later that evening, Alonzo drives Jake to the home of a Sureño named Smiley to run an errand. Jake reluctantly plays poker with Smiley and his fellow gang members as he waits for Alonzo, whilst Smiley reveals the situation Alonzo is in, namely, that by midnight tonight, Alonzo must pay $1 million to the Russian Mafia for the killing of one of their men in Las Vegas, or be killed himself. Jake then also realises that Alonzo abandoned him, and had also paid Smiley to kill him. Jake is beaten and dragged to the bathroom to be executed. A gang member searches Jake for money before he is killed, and finds the teenage girl's wallet who by sheer coincidence happens to be Smiley's cousin. Smiley decides to let Jake go.
Jake returns to Sara's apartment to arrest Alonzo, but a gunfight and chase ensue. Alonzo is subdued, whilst the entire neighbourhood congregates to watch. In an attempt to get the crowd on his side, Alonzo offers money to whoever kills Jake; but nobody interferes. Instead, they allow Jake to walk away with the money, and Jake plans to submit it as evidence against Alonzo. Alonzo flees for his life to Los Angeles International Airport, but his car is ambushed by the Russians, who gun him down. Jake returns home as the news broadcast Alonzo's death as a heroic officer.
Cast[edit]
- Denzel Washington as Detective Alonzo Harris
- Ethan Hawke as Officer Jake Hoyt
- Eva Mendes as Sara
- Scott Glenn as Roger
- Cliff Curtis as Smiley
- Raymond Cruz as Sniper
- Noel Gugliemi as Moreno
- Dr. Dre as Paul
- Peter Greene as Jeff
- Nick Chinlund as Tim
- Jaime P. Gomez as Mark
- Snoop Dogg as Blue
- Macy Gray as Sandman's wife
- Charlotte Ayanna as Lisa Hoyt
- Harris Yulin as Detective Doug Rosselli
- Tom Berenger as Stan Gursky
- Raymond J. Barry as Captain Lou Jacobs
- Samantha Becker as Letty
- Seidy López as Dreamer
- Rudy Perez as PeeWee
- Cle Shaheed Sloan as Bone
- Abel Soto as Neto
- Denzel Whitaker as Dimitri
- Fran Kranz as College Driver
Production[edit]
Although corruption in L.A.'s C.R.A.S.H. unit had yet to be exposed when Training Day was written, Antoine Fuqua has stated that the emergence of the Rampart Scandal in the late 1990s catalyzed the completion of the film. Denzel Washington also grew a beard in order to emulate the appearance of Rafael Pérez, a LAPD narcotics officer involved in multiple scandals.[2][3] Fuqua wanted Washington's character to be seductive and part of a machine, and not just a random rogue cop. In Washington's own words: "I think in some ways he's done his job too well. He’s learned how to manipulate, how to push the line further and further, and, in the process, he’s become more hard-core than some of the guys he's chasing."[4]
Fuqua also saw Hawke's character as generally honorable but so driven by ambition that he was willing to compromise his principles, particularly when following the charming and persuasive example of Washington's character. He has said that he fought with studio executives who wanted to cut the Three Wise Men scene, thinking it slowed the film. He insisted that the Wise Men scene was pivotal in establishing that at least some of Alonzo's illegal actions were sanctioned by his superiors who regarded unethical behavior as a necessary evil.[5]
Fuqua wanted Training Day to look as authentic as possible, and he shot on location in some of the most infamous neighborhoods of Los Angeles. He even obtained permission to shoot in the Imperial Courts housing project, the first time L.A. street gangs had allowed film crew to be brought into that neighborhood. The crew also filmed in Hoover Block and Baldwin Village.[6] Parts of the film were shot on a dead end street called Palmwood Drive, where the Black P. Stones Blood gang members were seen on the rooftops. Cle Shaheed Sloan, the gang technical advisor of Training Day, managed to get on screen real-life gang members from Rollin' 60 Crips, PJ Watts Crips, and B. P. Stones (a Bloods set). According to Fuqua, the actors and crew ended up receiving a warm welcome from local residents. When he was unable to shoot a scene directly on location, he recreated the locations on sets.[5]
There were also two police officers on hand as technical advisors, Michael Patterson and Paul Lozada (the latter from the San Francisco Police Department). Washington, Hawke and other cast members also met with undercover police officers, local drug dealers, and gang members to help them understand their roles better.[6]
Release[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Training Day received favorable reviews from critics. on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 72% approval rating, based on 155 reviews, with a rating average of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The ending may be less than satisfying, but Denzel Washington reminds us why he's such a great actor in this taut and brutal police drama."[7] on Metacritic, the film has a score of 70 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[8]
Roger Ebert gave the film three-out-of-four stars, praising both the lead and supporting actors and the film's gritty, kinetic energy. However, Ebert was bothered by several plot holes and wrote that "[a] lot of people are going to be leaving the theater as I did, wondering about the logic and plausibility of the last 15 minutes."[9]
Writing in The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Rechtshaffen gave the film a positive review on Sep 12, 2016 when he stated: "Denzel Washington ventures into the dark side as a seriously corrupt narcotics cop in Training Day, and the results are electrifying. So is the picture, thanks to taut, sinewy direction by Antoine Fuqua and a compelling script by David Ayer (The Fast and the Furious)."[10]
Box office[edit]
The film was released in theaters on October 5, 2001, and opened at #1. At its second week of release, the film's gross revenue was $13,386,457, staying at the #1 position. The film stayed in the top-ten box office until the seventh week of release, landing at #12. With an estimated budget of $45 million, Training Day ultimately grossed $76.6 million in the US and $104.9 million worldwide.[11]
Music[edit]
A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on September 11, 2001, by Priority Records. It peaked at 35 on the Billboard 200 and 19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and spawned two hit singles, Nelly's "#1" and Dr. Dre and DJ Quik's "Put It on Me".
Accolades[edit]
In 2002, Denzel Washington won the Academy Award for Best Actor[12] and the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain[13] for his performance in Training Day. Ethan Hawke was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[14] Washington and Hawke also received SAG nominations,[15] with the former receiving a Golden Globe nod.[16]
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains (2003):
- Alonzo Harris – #50 Villain[17]
TV series adaptation[edit]
On August 7, 2015, it was announced that Antoine Fuqua had decided to develop a television series based on the movie, and had teamed with Jerry Bruckheimer to develop the concept. Warner Bros. Television was shopping the show to the American broadcast networks. Will Beall would write the series, while Fuqua would serve as executive producer, and would direct the potential pilot.[18] CBS ordered a pilot on August 14, 2015. In addition to Fuqua, Bruckheimer, Beall, and Jonathan Littman will serve as executive producers for the series, which is set 15 years after the original film.[19] In May 2016, CBS picked up the series.[20]
See also[edit]
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