by Chris Alexion, Copyright June 07, 2006, all rights reserved. 291 views
How far should undercover narc officers go in stopping criminals? For that matter, how many personal restrictions should we allow in order to combat terrorism? Or how many liberties should authorities take with suspects in order to get vital information? In short, how far can you go in warring against evil before you become the thing you fight?
Antoine Fuqua's film Training Day tackles this issue from the perspective of two LAPD narcotics officers. One is Officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), a rookie cop on his first day of narc training. His training officer is Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), an unorthodox veteran who quickly overturns everything Hoyt thought he knew. Harris breaks protocol, threatens and releases crack addicts and rapists, and manipulates a network of informants who help Harris because they fear him. He also convinces Hoyt to take a hit of PCP, because "an effective narcotics officer must know and love narcotics."
The first thing to say about Training Day is that the acting is superb. Denzel is electrical and charismatic, pitching his philosophy as the only way to fight evil. "To protect the sheep, you got to catch the wolf," says Harris. "It takes a wolf to catch a wolf, understand?" And Hawke does a great job portraying Jake Hoyt as both a wide-eyed rookie and a man who fights for what he believes in. Too, the final confrontation was excellent and avoided Hollywood cliches. But the movie's real strength is the surprising moral clarity with which it deals with nuanced and serpentine issues, coming down one hundred percent on the right side of the fence. [Warning: what follows contains spoilers. If you haven't seen the film and want to, skip to the final paragraph.]
I mentioned Harris' law enforcement philosophy above: fight the wolves by becoming a wolf. But is this right? Jake Hoyt tells Harris that he became a cop to put criminals away, not to become one of them. And Jake is right. Changes in policy can be made; red tape can be cut; good can do unorthodox things to more effectively fight evil. But a line remains that must not be crossed, for in crossing it, good loses to evil even as it takes its next swing. The debate between Jake Hoyt and Alonzo Harris is really the debate between absolutism and pragmatism.
As Jake's training day unfolds, the fallout of Harris' philosophy becomes clearer. Under the guise of searching for drugs (with a warrant that turns out to be a takeout menu), Harris robs a house in order to get money to bribe a judge for a real warrant. This warrant is used to seize a drug lord's cash, which Harris needs to pay a debt to the Russian mafia. Once Harris and his group of corrupt narcs secure the money, Harris shoots the man and concocts a story to tell the department. When Jake hesitates to go along, Harris reminds him of the PCP in his blood, which could cost him his job if revealed. "You've been planning this all day," Jake gasps. Harris shakes his head. "I've been planning this all week."
Jake knows that what went down in the house was murder and armed robbery. But Harris' seductive explanation (which is really a brilliant performance by Denzel) leaves him unsure. It's not until Alonzo deceives Hoyt and arranges his death (how Jake escapes is something I'll leave out for all those who skipped the spoiler warning) that Jake knows what to do. Again, I was suprised to see Hollywood do the ending so well. Jake triumphs without compromising; when Harris' entire neighborhood turns against him, Jake tells Harris, "They're not like you. You know what I learned today? I'm not like you." And as for Harris, when the Russians catch up to him, he gets his share.
The film also explores the evil of statism, which Harris mixes with his own brand of street justice. One the one hand, Harris breaks rules and scorns the idea of just "rolling up in a black and white." Yet on the other, he's obsessed with authority, the authority he thinks he has as a cop. In his final confrontation with Jake, he screams at the crowd that refuses to help him, "I'm the police! I run s— around here! You just live here!"
I should say one final thing. Training Day is brutally realistic in its portrayal of crime and the street, and the language particularly takes a crude turn. (As a friend of mine said of another film, you can use a curse-free device if you like silent movies.) We can debate realistic portrayals of evil another time, but the point is that some will be offended, so this is offered as a heads-up. For the rest, the movie is definitely worth seeing. I'd almost go so far as to say that every young guy needs to see Training Day, because the movie basically speaks to us through the character of Jake Hoyt, who's a young husband, first-time father, and rookie cop. Despite all the philosophical implications, the film is basically about one thing–having the guts to do what you know is right.
1 • LHR • June 07, 2006 • 10:51 PM
Very interesting. Hey, I wanted to know how he escaped! Since I would rather read about the movie than watch it, maybe you could just tell me sometime.
2 • Nick • June 09, 2006 • 10:10 PM
I don't know what it is about the narcs but for some reason they tend to push the limits. I guess when you have to do certain things, and I do think certain things are necessary in fighting crime at that level, you tend to justify other actions. Power corrupts.
I had three different people just this week tell me in isolated incidents that our narcs had made them swallow their cocaine and then beat them up. One of the guys was black and blue and throwing up when I arrived on scene. So it's not just in the movies.
My point is that even though there is a time and a place for everything, we are still human. As fallen men it can be dangerous to flirt with that kind of power without looking to the one who gives us the authority in the first place.
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