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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Training Day
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 48 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: David Ayer
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 5, 2001
DVD: March 19, 2002
Running Time: 120 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for brutal violence, pervasive language, drug content and brief nudity
Starring Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Eva Mendes, Charlotte Ayanna, Tom Berenger, and Snoop Doggy Dogg
A police drama about a veteran officer (Washington) who escorts a rookie (Hawke) on his first day with the LAPD's tough inner-city narcotics unit. (Warner Bros.)
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The New Yorker David Denby
Trashy and opportunistic as some of it is, Training Day is the most vital police drama since "The French Connection" or "Serpico."
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
One of the finest cops-and-robbers thrillers of recent years.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Ominously atmospheric study of police corruption dangles danger and sinister motives at every turn.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Be warned: Though it's entirely justified by the story, there's a level of violence and brutality in Training Day -- that some terror-weary audience members may not care to cope with these days.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Peter Rainer
On a purely visceral level, Training Day is easily the most exciting movie out there right now, but as a morality tale with anything large on its mind, it's a cop-out.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Training Day can be simplistic, formulaic and absurdly melodramatic -- but Mr. Washington is flat-out great.
Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
Mesmerizing entertainment, but it's also a cop-out.
Time Richard Schickel
As long as Training Day stays tightly focused on the struggle between the two cops, the movie is first rate.
Washington Post Megan Rosenfeld
A taut, high-velocity film that departs from the action flick template by having actual ideas.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
If nothing else, Training Day is a gorgeous pedestal for Denzel Washington.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Amy Taubin
Antoine Fuqua's propulsive, elegantly written police thriller, offers the unsettling spectacle of Denzel Washington.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein
Washington creates an indelibly charming and terrifying character whose volatile blend of dedication and horrible expediency keeps us off balance.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
A razor-wire-taut (and extremely violent) exploration of what happens when good guys go bad, badder, baddest.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
The movie raises questions that are on plenty of minds right now, including whether and how much the rules should be bent to wage a war (in this case, on drugs) that cannot be won conventionally.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
So extreme is his mad dog behavior, indeed, that it shades over into humor: Washington seems to enjoy a performance that's over the top and down the other side.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
With its unflinching style, Training Day can be hard to sit through at times. But it's worth the discomfort for the adrenaline rush of the plot and Washington's compelling performance.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
This is a movie that rocks and socks you, and has a performance by Washington that's ruthless and scary. But in the end, it leaves you unmarked.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Even when it falls back excessively on coincidence and contrived set pieces, even when it gushes irretrievably over the top in its final act, Washington makes Training Day sizzle.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
It is so propulsive so much of the time, it almost looks as if it's going to go the distance. If Washington & Co. don't quite manage to bring it home, the getting there sure is something.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Even if the movie loses its nerve at the end, that doesn't take anything away from Washington's performance.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
He presides over the picture with such assurance that even longtime Denzel-watchers gape.
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Though Training Day doesn't resolve itself as well as it deserves and ends strictly cops-and-robbers style, it's given us some great acting and something to ponder. Not every cop show can lay claim to that.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Michael Dequina
Bit of melodramatic grandstanding that it is -- is made irrelevant by Washington's volcanic energy and fierce conviction.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Mr. Washington's dry-ice grandeur -- the predator's reflexes contrasting with a pensive mouth -- deserves regard, and his powerhouse virtuosity will almost guarantee him an Oscar nomination.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Training Day has the best performances and worst third act of any movie you're likely to see this year.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Even after it becomes clearer which side of law Harris is operating on, the film continues to work as a taut -- if violent -- police thriller.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
But this is Washington's show, his Scarface, if you will, and his smiling, seductive monster is a thrilling creation that gives Training Day all the bite it needs.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's a little depressing to see such a thrilling talent deployed in such an ordinary and sordid movie. Training Day isn't awful, but it's absolutely nothing special.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
As exhausting as it is exhilarating to watch, the film in the end is less than fully satisfying.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Denzel Washington does a cocksure turn in Training Day -- That may be enough to transform a shallow picture with delusions of grandeur into a crowd-pleasing hit.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
The masochistic brutality it's selling still seems glaringly out of step with the current mood of the country.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
There's no denying that Washington can play a rococo villain with flip ebullience, but I fervently wish he were doing it in a movie that paid more than lip service to the real world.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Manohla Dargis
One of those movie equivalents of a freeway pileup -- it's a mess, at once insistently watchable and a total dead end.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
A blandly twisting plot with no meaningful revelations or substantial themes.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 48 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Brandon gave it a10:
Amazing dark cop drama. One of the best "corrupt cop" movies there is. For everyone claiming it is too over the top and unrelalistic.... please look up the LAPD Rampart scandal, which is what inspired the film.
Buster B gave it a10:
This is one of the best movies ever. Seriously, Denzel and Ethan Hawke were amazing and the whole concept of the movie was great. The supporting cast took me by surprise when Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg made appearances and they were actually reasonably good. The action, the one-liners, the immortalized ending, the shady characters, the fact that this was filmed in the real gang areas in LA, and the look into the face of evil (Denzel) really made this movie shine. Amazing, and I recommend this to anyone who doesn't mind a whole lot of cussing.
Hugo B gave it a3:
Although the two central characters can hold the film, the rest falls by the wayside.
[Anonymous] gave it an8:
Denzel's suprisingly great as the baddie. Shows, with detail, the darker side of LA, the side eclipsed by Hollywood and Beverly Hills. I once idealized LA as a great, shiny city of dreams, a place where anything can happen and the possibilities are endless. Don't get me wrong, I still like LA today, but now i know that not everyone's basking in the eye candy and excess wealth that all of us fantasize about over there.
P. M. gave it a10:
It is one of the best movies i have ever seen and i have seen them all.
Bayo A. gave it a 9:
This movie really is great, brought out the best of denzel,the action,the lines and the plot. ITS HOT.
Jeff L gave it a 7:
While the movie can be seen as complex rumination on the psychology of the criminal, it can also be seen as a very straight-forward, conservative moralizing tale of making good decisions in life. It is the effortless navigation of these two perhaps incommensurable points of view that ultimately hurts this movie.
