Training Day

R

Released Oct 5, 2001

2 hr. 0 min.

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

List

74%

170 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

250,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Police drama about a veteran officer who escorts a rookie on his first day with the LAPD's tough inner-city narcotics unit. "Training Day" is a blistering action drama that asks the audience to decide what is necessary, what is heroic and what crosses the line in the harrowing gray zone of fighting urban crime. Does law-abiding law enforcement come at the expense of justice and public safety? If so, do we demand safe streets at any cost?

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Critics Consensus

The ending may be less than satisfying, but Denzel Washington reminds us why he's such a great actor in this taut and brutal police drama.

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Aidan B

Fairly enjoyable film with a great story and Oscar-worthy performances all around, "Training Day" takes an otherwise generic story and turns it into something that feels surprisingly unique.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/22/24

Full Review

Milad T

Rotten Tomatoes is embarrassingly wrong.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/24

Full Review

Connor S

Our greatest living and working actor's most famous and notorious role for a reason!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/04/24

Full Review

Gigsy V

Denzel Washington is magnetic; the way he talks and the way he can switch gears from being menacing and intimidating to charismatic, manipulative, charming and almost like a dad-figure/mentor-type is staggering (all the while putting forward valid arguments behind his f**ked up ways). I love the pace of the film and how the 3rd act switches things up.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/26/24

Full Review

Tyler D

One of the best films made. The ending is definitely satisfying for sure.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/25/24

Full Review

Jeff M

I have to be honest - as an Academy Awards nut, the pervasive thought I had throughout this movie was... "Denzel Washington has made movies for almost 40 years, and he won his only leading Oscar for THIS?!?!" At its core, this is basically yet another riff on the experienced cop paired with the rookie cop trope we've been enduring for decades, albeit this one is certainly more dramatic and intense than the norm. Frankly, this probably deserves a better rating than what I'm giving it, but it's just not my type of movie. Everyone talks too fast and there's such a large array of supporting characters that aren't defined that I ended up more confused than anything else. Denzel bad, Ethan good - that's what I kept reminding myself. Washington certainly isn't bad, he never is, but even though this is a rare villainous role for him, it still feels like something he could do in his sleep. Hawke received a Supporting Actor nomination, which is also ludicrous - not because of the quality of his performance but the fact that he is in essence the true lead of the movie... this is his story, he bookends it, and I'd be willing to bet he's in more scenes than Denzel. There are some truly intense moments here, but the onslaught of violence quickly became repetitive, and I did not want to spend any more time with any of these characters. There is one moment in particular of sheer coincidence that I won't spoil, but I thought pushed the line of believability. It was actually all a rather depressing experience for me and am quite surprised how well it did critically and among awards bodies. In the end, I didn't feel that there was a lot here that distinguished it between so many of the other corrupt cop movies out there. Those who appreciate this genre will certainly find more about it to admire than I did.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/21/24

Full Review

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Antoine Fuqua

Director

Denzel Washington

Alonzo Harris

Ethan Hawke

Jake Hoyt

Scott Glenn

Roger

Tom Berenger

Stan

Harris Yulin

Doug Rosselli

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Roger Clarke

Independent (UK)

Superior buddy cop movie.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 8, 2023

Full Review

Telegraph Staff

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Denzel Washington chomps down on the role of an unprincipled narcotics cop with exhibitionistic relish, but it's already an overrated performance -- a karaoke bad guy from an actor with an almost untarnishably righteous screen persona.

Nov 8, 2023

Full Review

Wilson Morales

indieWire

We hadn't seen Washington play the bad guy before, and with his ferocious, dominating, and charismatic performance, the Oscar was his...

Mar 31, 2020

Full Review

Alex Papaioannou

InSession Film

Make no mistake, Fuqua’s Training Day is one of the finer films to take place over the course of a single day.

Oct 30, 2023

Full Review

Cory Woodroof

For the Win (USA Today)

The searing tension Washington brought — occasionally punctuated by his disarming charm — made Alonzo Harris such a memorable bad guy.

Sep 6, 2023

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

A gritty and initially engrossing cop flick.

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 5, 2023

Full Review

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Synopsis

Police drama about a veteran officer who escorts a rookie on his first day with the LAPD's tough inner-city narcotics unit. "Training Day" is a blistering action drama that asks the audience to decide what is necessary, what is heroic and what crosses the line in the harrowing gray zone of fighting urban crime. Does law-abiding law enforcement come at the expense of justice and public safety? If so, do we demand safe streets at any cost?

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Executive Producer: Davis Guggenheim, Bruce Berman
Screenwriter: David Ayer
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Village Roadshow Prod., NPV Entertainment
Rating: R (Drug Content|Brief Nudity|Pervasive Language|Strong Brutal Violence)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 5, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 22, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $76.3M
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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