BIASES: mid 20s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare

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Training Day

MOVIE BIASES: Denzel's the greatest, an intriguing plot if not marketing campaign, but was this worth the wait?
MAJOR PLAYERS: Denzel Washington (Remember the Titans), Ethan Hawke (Great Expectations), screenwriter David Ayer (Fast and the Furious), and director Antoine Fuqua (Bait).

I am a Denzel NUT. I believe he is the best actor, bar none. I have read his unauthorized filmography/biography and his picture hangs on my living room wall. I own all of his movies, save four. So you can imagine my excitement for "Training Day." And, thankfully, one of the most heavily hyped films of the fall delivers in unexpectedly solid fashion, due, in no small part, to my main man Denzel.

"This [stuff's] chess, not checkers!" Well call Alonzo (Washington) the Chessmaster. Alonzo is head of a special narcotics unit of the LAPD specializing in huge drug busts that puts his men on the fast track to detective. Ambitious rookie cop Jake Hoyt (Hawke) wants in. With only a day to prove his worth to Alonzo, Jake finds that what goes on during that day is not only a lesson in law but also a lesson in life. And these lessons are in the hands of one of Los Angeles' most shamelessly rogue cops.

Add my voice to that cacophony of voices hailing the Almighty Denzel Washington's performance. Denzel as a bad guy is truly something to behold. As the silver chain sporting, all black wearing, Monte Carlo-on-switches driving, profanity-laced Alonzo, Denzel is dazzling. His is such a strong, convincing, alluring portrayal of a good cop gone bad, Alonzo's nefarious ways will almost make sense to you. The ultimate conviction and logic to his motivations, despite their ethical precariousness, seem to straddle common sense through the pure power of Denzel's performance. It's sexy. Electric. Explosive. Nasty. His is a performance that is all edge yet wholly, smoothly believable. It makes you wonder how good of a bad guy Denzel could have had had he taken up this line of acting a decade ago, a la the morally ambiguous roles portrayed by
John Travolta. Washington's Alonzo is without a single morally redeeming value. Evil has never looked so seductive.

As for the other actors, everyone does their job well. Ethan Hawke is almost straight out of Central Casting (for a role that nearly went to the likes of Matt Damon and others), almost repeating his naïve, idealistic Pip from "Great Expectations" in portraying the wet-behind-the-ears, Valley-based rookie cop. But then again, what white boy wouldn't do a good job playing a greenhorn thrown into some of South Central's most infamous 'hoods, onscreen with one of the greatest actors of his generation? The only thing keeping the talented, straight-from-the-"Friends"-coffeehouse-looking Hawke in the same frame with the overly charismatic Washington is the script. Snoop Dogg plays Snoop Dogg well (albeit this time as a smalltime, wheelchair hood); Dr. Dre lends his sneer to a cop role; and Macy Gray does a surprisingly good turn as a ghetto fabulous hoodrat who knows her search warrant rights.

Credit also goes around to the filmmakers. David Ayer has delivered a crackerjack script whose quality is reminiscent of "U-571" (and almost makes up for "Fast and the Furious"). There are some classic lines bandied about, almost exclusively made for Alonzo's character. Antoine Fuqua, the director, managed to surprise me. I admit, I think he's a hack. A former video director who has committed the egregious sins of directing the violently confused "The Replacement Killers" and the lackluster "Bait" (not to mention marrying my would-be babymomma Lela Rochon!), Fuqua was the one cat I thought could muck up such a high concept film like this with great casting. But with the exception of a few oddly paced scenes here and there, Fuqua delivers his first even-handed, truly exciting movie that is more than just a visually slick paean to talent unfulfilled. Sure, a lot of that has to do with Denzel, but Fuqua's handling of a stoned Jake on PCP as well as a gripping showdown with a slippery ending shows Fuqua's maturity in that incredibly well directed, tense scene. I didn't know Antoine had it in him. When it comes to Denzel, now, more than ever, we KNOW he's got it in him.

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