Training Day (2001)

Training Day’s last half hour turns a tight, nasty cop drama into a cartoon, and it nearly costs the whole movie. Up to then, it’s close to perfect. Ethan Hawke’s Jake is a rookie who just wants a good review on his first day, and Denzel Washington’s Alonzo is the worst supervisor in the history of employment. Denzel is electric. He’s charming, scary and funny in the same breath, and he can flip from big brother to big threat mid-sentence. You keep yelling at Jake to get out of the car. He never does, and that’s where the tension lives. Antoine Fuqua squeezes it all into one day across Los Angeles, and it feels sweaty and real until the finale goes big and loud. 527,728 IMDb ratings average a 7.8, and Denzel is the reason. An 8.2 because a performance this big is worth every wobble in the ending. $924 says the next time a new boss offers to drive, you take your own car.

What works: Denzel Washington in total command, Ethan Hawke as the perfect nervous foil, and a one-day structure that never lets up.

What doesn’t: The final stretch gets loud and over the top, trading the street-level tension for a far sillier showdown.

Who it’s for: Crime movie fans who want one great performance to carry them through a very long, very bad day at work.