Training Day

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Training Day
Theatrical poster for Training Day
Directed by	Antoine Fuqua
Produced by	Bruce Berman and Davis Guggenheim
Written by	David Ayer
Starring	Denzel Washington Ethan Hawke Scott Glenn Tom Berenger Harris Yulin Raymond J. Barry Cliff Curtis Dr. Dre Snoop Dogg Macy Gray Charlotte Ayanna Eva Mendes Nick Chinlund Jaime Gomez Raymond Cruz Noel Gugliemi
Music by	Mark Mancina
Cinematography	Mauro Fiore
Editing by	Conrad Buff
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (USA)
Release date(s)	October 5, 2001
Running time	122 Min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$45,000,000 (estimate)
Gross revenue	$104,876,233

Training Day is a 2001 crime film directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by David Ayer and starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. The film follows two LAPD narcotics detectives over a 24-hour period in the gang neighborhoods of South Los Angeles.

Training Day features appearances by actors Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Harris Yulin, Raymond J. Barry, Terry Crews, and Eva Mendes. Musical artists Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Macy Gray are also featured.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 4.1 Awards 4.2 Box office 5 In popular culture 6 Soundtrack 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Plot

The film follows a single day in the life of a young LAPD cop Jake Hoyt (Hawke) as he is subject to a single day evaluation by Detective Alonzo Harris (Washington), a highly decorated LAPD narcotics officer.

After meeting in a coffee shop, Jake rides with Alonzo in his car, a black 1979 Chevrolet Monte Carlo lowrider, during the day. During the first few moments of their interaction, it becomes quickly apparent that Jake's 'by the book' dictum is in stark contrast to Alonzo's philosophy of blending in with the street. They first detain some college students buying marijuana from a dealer, but instead of arresting them they just take their drugs. Jake is suddenly put into a compromising position when Alonzo offers him a hit of the marijuana (that is, unknown to Jake, laced with PCP) as a test of his 'street smarts', threatening to throw him out if he doesn't smoke it. Jake relents under pressure and does what he is told.

Alonzo then takes Jake to the home of a man named Roger (Scott Glenn), with whom Alonzo appears to have a close relationship. As they are cruising down the street later on, Jake notices a female high school student being attacked by two men in a side alley and jumps out to save her while Alonzo watches. Jake wants to process the men and the girl, but Alonzo dismisses her and leaves the two men out on the street. Jake discovers the girl's pink wallet before he leaves and picks it up. They then go on to harass a drug dealer named Blue (Snoop Dogg) and steal drug money in the presence of a dealer's wife (Macy Gray) and nephew who live in Imperial Courts, after which Jake is transported to The Jungles to visit Alonzo's Salvadoran mistress, Sara (Eva Mendes), and their young son, where he establishes that the gangs in the housing project all fear and respect him. This is followed by a meet with three high ranking police officers — known as the "Three Wisemen": D.A. Stan Gursky (Tom Berenger), Detective Doug Rosselli (Harris Yulin), and Captain Lou Jacobs (Raymond J. Barry) — where it is clear from their conversation that Alonzo has bigger problems than breaking in a new rookie, but the details are left very vague. They thus give him permission to "cash in" on an "account".

Alonzo goes back to Roger's home with Jake and some fellow "narcs" (narcotics officers) led by Jeff (Peter Greene) and Paul (Dr. Dre) and their followers Tim (Nick Chinlund) and Mark (Jaime Gomez), seizing Roger's money stash hidden underneath the floor of his kitchen, and offering a cut to the team (though Jake refuses it) before shooting Roger as he sits unarmed and helpless. Jake is horrified by what he has just witnessed and while the crew sets out to manipulate the crime scene, he snaps, resulting in a tense standoff between him and the corrupt officers. But he soon realizes his predicament and surrenders when Alonzo mentions the department's blood test as his wild card, which would ruin him as it would detect the PCP he had smoked during the day. The backup arrives to clean up, and Jake expresses his overall disgust at the way Alonzo operates, to which Alonzo replies that it is part of his pragmatic methodology.

The pair later arrive at the home of a Latino gangster named "Smiley" (Cliff Curtis), who is playing poker with two other gang members, Moreno (Noel Gugliemi) and Sniper (Raymond Cruz). After playing a hand, Jake becomes aware that Alonzo has abandoned him to the thugs, after which Smiley informs him of Alonzo's situation; he must pay one million dollars to the Russian mob for killing one of their couriers in Las Vegas, or face death — which would explain the heist on Roger's stash. Jake tries to escape, but he is overpowered and dragged into the bathroom to be shot. They ignore his mercy pleas and search his pockets, finding the pink wallet he had picked up earlier which, coincidentally, belongs to Smiley's cousin. Jake desperately tells him where he found it, and Smiley calls his cousin, who confirms Jake's story and provides his physical description. Smiley is visibly moved by the coincidence and calls off the hit, letting him go and returning his gun.

Jake returns to Sara's apartment looking for Alonzo; he attempts to arrest him as he tries to make his appointment with the Russians, but Alonzo resists. Jake eventually subdues him, after which gang members and local residents begin congregating to watch the conflict. Alonzo tries to get the crowd on his side, but it becomes evident that Jake had stripped him of his power and that the neighborhood has had enough of him; they allow Jake to walk away with the money, who intends to turn it in as evidence.

In his desperate escape to LAX, a broken Alonzo meets his end when a crew of Russian hitmen viciously gun him down at a quiet intersection. The final scene has Jake pulling into his driveway and going home to his wife, Lisa (Charlotte Ayanna), and daughter, while a radio broadcast reports Alonzo's death — describing it as occurring honorably 'in the line of duty', echoing a threat he had earlier made to Jake.

[edit] Cast

• Denzel Washington - Alonzo Harris
• Ethan Hawke - Jake Hoyt
• Scott Glenn - Roger
• Tom Berenger - Stan Gursky
• Harris Yulin - Doug Rosselli
• Raymond J. Barry - Lou Jacobs
• Cliff Curtis - Smiley
• Dr. Dre - Paul
• Snoop Dogg - Blue
• Macy Gray - Sandman's Wife
• Charlotte Ayanna - Lisa Hoyt
• Eva Mendes - Sara Harris
• Nick Chinlund - Tim
• Jaime Gomez - Mark
• Raymond Cruz - Sniper
• Noel Gugliemi - Moreno
• Seidy López - Dreamer
• Denzel Whitaker – Dimitri
• Peter Greene - Jeff (uncredited)
• Leonard A. Anderson - Ray (uncredited)

[edit] Production

Antoine Fuqua wanted Training Day to look as authentic as possible, and he shot on location in some of the most infamous neighborhoods of Los Angeles, California. He even obtained permission to shoot in the Imperial Courts housing project. It was the first time L.A. street gangs allowed cameras to be brought into the Imperial Courts neighborhood. The crew also filmed in Hoover Block and The Jungles.^{[citation needed]} Parts of the film were shot on a dead end street called Palmwood Drive where the Black P. Stones Blood gang members were seen on the rooftops. Cle Shaheed Sloan, the gang technical advisor of Training Day, managed to get on screen real-life gang members from Rollin' 60 Crips, PJ Watts Crips and B. P. Stones Bloods.

According to Fuqua's commentary on the DVD release of the film, the actors and crew ended up receiving a warm welcome from local residents. When Fuqua was unable to shoot a scene directly on location, he recreated the locations on sets.

There were also two police officers on hand as technical advisors, Michael Patterson and Paul Lozada. Washington, Hawke and other cast members also met with undercover police officers, local drug dealers and gang members to help them understand their roles better.^{[citation needed]}

The coffee shop in the beginning of the film, called Quality Cafe, appears in many films, including Old School, Se7en, Ghost World, Gone in Sixty Seconds, and Catch Me If You Can.

[edit] Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews upon release, and Denzel Washington's portrayal of Alonzo Harris gathered glowing praise from the critics. Fuqua wanted his character to be seductive and part of a machine, and not just a random rogue cop. In Washington's own words,

I think in some ways he’s done his job too well. He’s learned how to manipulate, how to push the line further and further, and, in the process, he’s become more hard-core than some of the guys he’s chasing.^[1]

The review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 72% of critics gave positive reviews based on 152 reviews.^[2]

[edit] Awards

Denzel Washington won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Ethan Hawke was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

[edit] Box office

The film was released in theaters on October 5, 2001, and was a box office hit, landing at #1. At its second week of release, the film's gross revenue was $13,386,457, landing again in the #1 position. The film stayed in the top-ten box office until the seventh week of release, landing at #12. The film grossed $76,631,907 domestically and $104,876,233 worldwide.

[edit] In popular culture

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2009)

The film has been referenced to in TV shows and music videos. It was parodied in a 5-minute segment of Chappelle's Show. The parody involves Wayne Brady and Chappelle cruising in a neighborhood to show Brady's "real" side. There is a segment of the skit very reminiscent of when Alonzo "convinces" Hoyt to smoke marijuana laced with PCP.

The film was alluded to in the video for Lil' Scrappy's "No Problem" with Snoop Dogg in the role of "Blue" again and the 2002 music video for rapper AZ's single "I'm Back" was based on Training Day.

Denzel Washington's character Alonzo was ranked 50th villain on the AFI's 100 greatest heroes and villains. The film was one of the few where Washington played a villain, with A Soldier's Story being the first.

[edit] Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on September 11, 2001 by Priority Records. It made it 35 on the Billboard 200 and 19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and spawned two hit singles, Nelly's "#1" and Dr. Dre and DJ Quik's "Put It on Me".

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Training Day

• Official website
• Training Day at the Internet Movie Database
• Training Day at Allmovie
• Training Day at Rotten Tomatoes
• Training Day at Box Office Mojo
• Notes
• Denzel Washing Training Day Interview at the BNET

Preceded by Don't Say a Word

Box office number-one films of 2001 (USA) October 7 - October 14

Succeeded by From Hell

v • d • e Films directed by Antoine Fuqua The Replacement Killers (1998) • Bait (2000) • Training Day (2001) • Tears of the Sun (2003) • King Arthur (2004) • Shooter (2007) • Brooklyn's Finest (2008)