Pardon my tangent, but I like watching Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket a lot, especially the home video version. Through the magic of video, I can watch, transfixed, as actors R. Lee Ermey and Vincent D'Onofrio (along with the rest of the gang) teach a masters-level film seminar as a Marine Corps Drill Instructor and his Instructee gone terribly wrong. And, as the emphasis moves from Boot Camp to Vietnam, home video also allows me to turn the TV off and move on to Something Else - since, for me, most everything past FMJ's Boot Camp just doesn't compare to that brilliant first act. Which brings me to Training Day. The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) LAPD cop Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) is excited about his new gig, as an undercover narcotics officer; still naive, Hoyt believes he can Make A Difference in the War On [Some] Drugs, and he's eager to prove himself to his new boss. Said boss - one Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), wants Hoyt to prove himself, alright; but not in the way Hoyt thinks. Hoyt quickly discovers that Harris is, at best, a rogue cop playing by his own rules, seemingly only answering to his code of street conduct. And at worse, Harris is a completely corrupt cop, taking advantage of the power his badge and shield affords him. Not to mention the dirty money he comes by. Hoyt has to decide, and decide quickly, just how far into the dirt he'll let Harris drag him. The Upshot (WARNING: **more spoilers contained below**) Sure, there were other actors populating this movie - Scott Glenn, Harris Yulin, Tom Berenger, Emilio Rivera, and Cliff Curtis, just to name a few (Snoop Dogg counts too, I reckon; my jury's still out on including Macy Grey and Dr. Dre in the "actor" category) . But make no mistake: this picture belonged to Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. For better or for worse. For me, it's the second half to two-thirds of this picture, that make up the "for worse". Like Full Metal Jacket before it, the "training" bits of Training Day were a riveting portrait of Denzel Washington at his over-the-top thug life finest; even when he was obviously trying too hard to be Down [did someone buy Denzel a copy of 'GhettoSpeak 101'?], Washington's wolfish narcotics cop was fascinating to watch - and cringe at - in all his raw power. Ethan Hawke as rookie undercover cop Jake Hoyt, in training mode, complimented Washington nicely; even as Alonzo Harris became progressively nastier, and Hoyt settled into wary pupil status, the lessons on surviving in this big bad world, were great to watch. The first few pages of my notepad were riddled with reactions to Professa' Alonzo's whip as it connected with Student Jake's tender butt. Everything changed suddenly, when class was apparently dismissed, and Harris' earth-bound motivations became clear; once Alonzo was revealed to be indeed smaller-than-life, the thrill was gone for me as a viewer. The longer this film went on, the less I liked it, and the more the sheer mass of my suspended disbelief weighed me down. Scene after scene after endless boggling scene had me silently screaming over how incredibly doofus Hoyt had to be to let himself be caught up in Harris' madness to such an extent. If I disliked the corrupt Alonzo, I could not stand his idiot rookie trainee; and adding more of the corrupt cops to the mix, did nothing to improve my mood. I knew I was Through when the repeated cacophony of "my nigga" failed to invoke the gag response in me. By the time the overwrought, ObCrimeDoesn'tPay anticlimactic mishmash of Bonnie And Clyde and the "tollbooth" scene from The Godfather went down, I was anxious to Exit, Stage Right. Don't get me wrong: my gripe isn't so much with the actors (though Washington's bad mix of Scarface and Nino Brown, got on my last nerve), as it is with the story itself. Even if every frame was an accurate representation of Life On The Mean Streets (and believe me, my eyes rolled so much, the on-screen 'bangers used them for dice), I simply failed to believe, or care anymore. Whup my ass and call me Silly, but I don't think that's the reaction Antoine Fuqua & Company were going for. Bammer's Bottom Line As with Serendipity, it looks like I'm swimming upstream again; while most reviewers are apparently giving Training Day their seal of approval, I can't manage much more than a indifferent yellowlight rating for Washington and Hawke's efforts. And like I said before, Say La Vee. Training Day: As a Rilly Bad Guy, Denzel Washington is still a wet-behind-the-ears rookie. But he does look good behind those ears. back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2001 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/