Training Day (Snapcase Packaging)

Training Day (Snapcase Packaging)
by Antoine Fuqua

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Category: DVD
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DVD Cover Information

• Condition: New
• Format: DVD
• Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DVD; Widescreen; NTSC

Movie Reviews of Training Day (Snapcase Packaging)

Movie Review: "Look in either one of 'em, an' pay the bill..."
Summary: 5 Stars

In this kind of film, where the lead character is a rogue and ruthless crooked cop with seemingly no morals or respect for anything, you HAVE to have somebody to keep the film steeped in the reality of the everyday Joe. It's the only way that the film could be disturbing and effective, without alienating its audience. Well, Ethan Hawke is that everyday Joe. He's rookie cop Jake Hoyt, young, boyish, naive, new husband and father; he just wants what we all want, to take care of his family by working and doing whatever possible to make it into the high ranks of his profession. If only he had known what that was going to involve.

It's become almost mandatory these days when making an urban film, that you HAVE to cast some hip-hop and R&B stars that want to try their hand at acting in small roles. This film is no exception, and that is at times for the better and at times for the worse. I tell ya I ain't even recognize Macy Gray until I heard that rough, sandpaper voice of her's, but she plays a nasty ol' hood rat, complete with a sassy attitude, some long fingernails and a mouth like a sailor. She done impressed me though, I must say. The parapalegic crack dealer is played by Snoop Dogg, who was almost perfect in his role, but there had to be a rotten apple I guess, an' here that comes in the form of Dr. Dre. He plays one of Alonzo's crooked narc troops, but he jus' don't got the acting skill at all. His thick braids and constant scowl are almost laughable, an' just made him look more fake and unconvincing in the role. Good thing he only has a few lines.

The director of this movie, a young man named Antoine Fuqua, has got a big, bright future ahead of him if this movie is any indication. He seem to have a knack for creating a hypnotic and dreamlike quality in a film. The way he opens the movie with the sun rising dissolving into Jake's alarm going off. That whole first scene with Jake sitting up in bed and looking over at his wife who is feeding their baby in a rocking chair, the dark blue lighting, it's just surreal, almost as if Jake was still in a dream. And in a sense, he is. He's at home, cut off from the outside world, and in the dream that he's always had of a comfortable and easygoing life. But, very soon he will be thrust into a hellish world he could have never imagined.

The best dialogue in the movie comes, not surprisingly, from Jake and Alonzo's conversations while they're riding around L.A. in the Monte Carlo. Especially when they get really heated. It's two almost TOTALLY different people that are struggling to relate to each other. One who wants to be a good cop and make an honest paycheck, and one who wants to get the job done and get paid, by any means necessary.

This movie is not just your average crime drama or cop thriller, its a movie about morals, about decisions, about the treachory we accept as part of life and the corruption that we all seem to look the other way about. How long would you be able to go on telling yourself that the ends justify the means, the deeper and darker you go? I think that's the question Jake kept asking himself. You can see it in his eyes, the uncertainty about what he agrees to go along with. You would think he coulda got out of this predicament before he got too far in, but, damn, Alonzo can be one manipulative son of a gun.

Now I bought this DVD with a sticker on it that said 'Loaded with Special Features!' Well, I was a little disappointed in that matter, because it's not really loaded. The featurette is nothing really special, and is only about 15 minutes long. The deleted scenes are definitely require watching material, because some of 'em are great and delve even deeper into both Alonzo and Jake. The alternate ending is more like an extended ending, because it doesn't change anything about the outcome. It's a quick, but I thought crucial, conversation and I personally think it shoulda been kept in the final cut. It brought the story full-circle.

This movie is not for the squeamish or for the conservatives, because it sometimes does seem to be sending mixed messages, which is one of the reasons I think it was a mistake to not include that final conversation in the ending, because it really evened out the rough edges quite a bit. Nevertheless, this is one of the best films of last year, featuring two of the best performances of last year, so don't hesitate to pick it up.

Summary of Training Day (Snapcase Packaging)