Critical Reception and Legacy (Training Day) Training Day

Critics praised Washington's performance but questioned the third act

Training Day opened on October 5, 2001, to generally favorable reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 74% approval rating from 170 critics. Metacritic reports a score of 71 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences gave it a CinemaScore of B+. (rottentomatoes, wikipedia)

The critical consensus was remarkably consistent: Washington's performance was extraordinary, Hawke's was strong, and the final act didn't live up to what preceded it.

Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, praising Washington's commitment while noting the climax's implausibility. His review captured the tension between the performance and the plotting:

"Washington seems to enjoy a performance that's over the top and down the other side." — Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com (2001)

Ebert also acknowledged the screenplay's ingenuity despite its excesses:

"Ayer's screenplay is ingenious in the way it plants clues and pays them off in unexpected ways." — Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com (2001)

But Ebert flagged what many critics saw as the film's structural problem: "A lot of people are going to be leaving the theater as I did, wondering about the logic and plausibility of the last 15 minutes."

Steven D. Greydanus at Decent Films admired Washington's force while questioning its deployment:

"Washington makes Alonzo Harris into something like a force of nature." — Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films (2001)

"Washington's knockout performance is the main reason to see Training Day. It may also be the crux of the film's moral difficulty." — Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films (2001)

James Berardinelli at ReelViews found the energy compelling despite the ending's weaknesses, describing the film as one that "crackles with energy" and represents "a mainstream motion picture that can be seen and appreciated as more than mindless entertainment." But he noted that the final fifteen minutes are marred by "cliches, contrivances, and smart characters acting dumb." (reelviews)

Washington's Oscar win was historic and contested

At the 74th Academy Awards on March 24, 2002, Denzel Washington won the Best Actor award -- his second Oscar overall, after Best Supporting Actor for Glory (1989). He was the first African American actor to win Best Actor since Sidney Poitier's honorary award in 1964. Julia Roberts presented the award. The same evening, Halle Berry won Best Actress for Monster's Ball, making it a landmark night for Black actors at the Oscars. (wikipedia)

Washington's acceptance speech acknowledged the coincidence with typical wit. He had presented an honorary award to Sidney Poitier earlier that evening:

The win was not without controversy. Some critics argued that Washington had delivered stronger work in earlier films -- Malcolm X, The Hurricane, Glory -- and that the Academy was compensating for past snubs by rewarding a crowd-pleasing villain turn. Others saw it as overdue recognition of one of American cinema's most consistently excellent performers.

Ethan Hawke was nominated for Best Supporting Actor but lost to Jim Broadbent for Iris. Years later, he reflected on the experience with perspective shaped by Washington's counsel:

"You don't want an award to improve your status. You want to improve the award's status." — Ethan Hawke quoting Denzel Washington, Variety (2024)

The film earned back its budget and then some

Training Day opened at number one with $22.5 million. On a $45 million budget, it earned $76.6 million domestically and $104.9 million worldwide -- a solid commercial performance for an R-rated crime drama. (wikipedia, the-numbers)

Retrospective assessments have been kinder than opening-week reviews

Twenty years on, the critical consensus has shifted. The AwardsWatch retrospective described the film as one that "still plays like gangbusters" and called it "compulsively watchable," noting that it occupies "that next tier" of films that "withstand the scrutiny of time." (awardswatch)

The Film Stories retrospective positioned Alonzo Harris alongside cinema's most iconic antagonists:

"Alonzo Harris is arguably as fearsome and magnetic as legendary villains like Hannibal Lecter, Hans Gruber, and Norman Bates." — Film Stories (2021)

Antoine Fuqua, meanwhile, described the film's significance in personal terms:

"That movie reminded me of why I love movies. Just characters, I love the characters. I love when you feel them." — Antoine Fuqua, Den of Geek (2014)

The film's cultural footprint extends beyond cinema

The AFI ranked Alonzo Harris as the 50th greatest screen villain of all time in 2003. Lines from the film -- "King Kong ain't got shit on me," "This shit's chess, it ain't checkers," "It takes a wolf to catch a wolf" -- have entered common usage. Hawke has noted that strangers quote the film to him almost daily:

"'Jake! Jake! You got the money, Jake?' You know, 'King Kong ain't got nothin' on me!' I mean, people say that to me pretty much daily." — Ethan Hawke, The Ringer (2018)

CBS developed a Training Day television series that premiered on February 2, 2017, with Antoine Fuqua and Jerry Bruckheimer producing. The show was cancelled after one season following the death of star Bill Paxton. A prequel film, Training Day: Day of the Riot, set during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, has been in development since 2018 but remains unproduced. (wikipedia)