Training Day

Talk about being a little behind in keeping up with the latest releases! On sale for a very reasonable £4.99 at Blockbuster I couldn't resist the chance to finally see the Bad Cop drama that won Denzel his Oscar and also picked up a nomination for Hawke. Word of mouth had put me off prior to my bargain bin activities, saying that although it begins well it trails off into melodrama and camp OTT by the final 20 minutes. Erm, there is truth it that statement certainly, as neither the script nor the director seem to know where to take these interesting characters to find a satisfactory conclusion, and it chickens out from the potentially thought-provoking issues in favour of action scenes that dilute any real tension unnecessarily. Both leads are, however, on fine form, and some of their initial scenes sparkle with edge and posibility. Cinematically it also scores some good points with some eye-catching techniques on display and some pleasing colours on the filter. Ultimately you are left with a feeling of neither fulfillment or disappointment - there's nothing new here, that's safe to say, but as a popcorn flick it is a reasonable success and I will be watching it again before it gathers too much dust. The question, of course, is always going to be did Washington deserve that golden statue? Well, that depends how you feel about the man as an actor in general; he has sold out to an extent from his early potential in films like Glory, and personally I can take or leave him - the frustration being that you can tell he has a lot to give but chooses movies that don't challenge that talent. I would have preferred if he hadn't won and had been left with the thought that maybe he should try something of real merit with a decent director first. That said, which performance was better that year? Hard to say... 7/10 Kx