Training Day intends to pull no punches, and whatever the flaws therein, 99.9% of the time it manages that. What we have here is one of the most powerful and convincing films of recent memory. For a solid hour it makes no mistakes, and in the haze of its conventions during the second hour, it is not one whit less compelling.
This is one of the most claustrophobic films in a few years, and only rarely does it succumb to conventional, omnipotent point of view shots. It feels real. Most of that effect comes from the authenticity of the dialogue and the seedy, foreboding jungle landscape of L.A. This is an L.A. of persisting modern dread. You can't escape it while you watch this film.
There is a great scene in this film that is barely lessoned by sudden intruding convention. Ethan Hawke has been abandoned, his purpose served to the conniving Denzel, in a house populated by gangster Latinos. They confront Hawke, and after he fights back and punches the man of the house in his own home, the man takes him into the bathroom, deposits him in the tub, and points a shotgun at his head. Earlier in the film, Hawke's character has prevented the back-alley rape of a 14 year old Latino girl. Her wallet is left lying on the ground next to a dumpster, Hawke picks it up, puts it in his pocket and moves on. The girl is quite conveniently related to the man of the house. He discovers her wallet in Hawke's pocket and assumes the worst about what the white boy gone and done to his cousin. The man caulks the shotgun and prepares Hawke's demise, whilst Hawke screams his explanation. The man calls his cousin.
At this point, the camera makes a terrible mistake. Not only does it leave the bathtub, it leaves the house and enters the room of the cousin, and we hear the entire explanation unfold. Hawke is safe. The scene is tense enough that we almost want to leave the room. But we shouldn't be allowed to. It's a tense scene. It could be a heartbreaker. We should have stayed in the tub, but omnipotent convention forbids us to do so. Not only should we have stayed in the tub, in the bathroom, and perhaps one long unbroken shot of the gun poking into Hawke's face as he prepares for his doom, we should also have been spared of hearing the girl tell the man the truth. The scene works, but it could've been even harder. That, however, is a trifle of a complaint. Go rent the fuck out of this movie.
