# Training Day (2001) | Ep. 66 - Part 1

An episode of [All The Right Movies](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1471502633), 17 Oct 2025, 1 h 11 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO3647582400.mp3

Denzel Washington swaggers through the streets of LA in this dark, morally complex thriller. Luke, Matt, and Westy ride shotgun with Alonzo Harris to begin the story (King Kong ain't got nothing on that performance). In Part 1 we cover the film's opening, director Antoine Fuqua, the cast, and the second act — unpacking the intense production, the gritty LA backdrop, and why Fuqua insisted on shooting in some of the city's most volatile areas. Part 2, covering the crew, the finale, reception, and the film's legacy, is available now. Connect with ATRM: To support what we do, access our archive and listen to exclusive episodes, become an ATRM patron: Listen on Patreon Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Twitter/X: @ATRightMovies YouTube: Subscribe to our channel Instagram: @allthe_rightmovies Threads: @allthe_rightmovies Facebook: Join our movie group Bluesky: @alltherightmovies.com TikTok: @alltherightmovies Website: alltherightmovies.com

## Transcript

[0:04] All the right movies. I got 38 cases pending trial, 63
[0:08] in active investigation, another 250 on the log I can't clear.
[0:12] I supervised five officers. That's five different
[0:14] personalities, 5 sets of problems.
[0:16] You could be #6 if you act right.
[0:18] But I ain't holding no hands, you understand?
[0:20] I ain't babysitting. You got today and today only to
[0:22] show me who and what you're made of.
[0:24] You don't like narcotics? Get the fuck out of my car.
[0:26] Go back to the office, get a nice pussy desk job, you know,
[0:29] chasing bad checks or something you hear?
[0:31] Me. I hear you.
[0:32] OK. Rookie Cup Jake Hoyt gets taken
[0:37] through the ringer by Maverick narc Alonzo Harris and what
[0:40] should have been a straightforward evaluation day.
[0:42] Jake soon learns the harsh reality of the streets as he
[0:45] becomes a pawn in a network of corruption.
[0:47] Antoine Fuqua's Training Deer overcame a difficult pre
[0:50] production period to become one of the most talked about films
[0:53] of the early 21st century, in no small part to an imperious lead
[0:57] performance by Denzel Washington in what would become one of his
[1:00] signature roles. My name is Luke and the two punk
[1:03] ass crooked ass wolves with me are Westie.
[1:06] Boom. Ha ha.
[1:07] You never know. That's the point.
[1:08] Go. And Matt, you know what the gas
[1:11] chamber smells like? Pine.
[1:13] Oil. All the Right Movies are in our
[1:15] office listening to the streets. We've been planning this all
[1:18] week, son. Hi everyone.
[1:38] Welcome to All the Right Movies. So podcast on classic and hit
[1:41] films that King Kong ain't got shit on.
[1:43] Obviously. Very nice.
[1:44] We're telling the story of Hollywood one film at a time,
[1:47] and this is a huge, huge, huge piece of the jigsaw for a lot of
[1:50] reasons, which I'm sure we'll delve deep into.
[1:53] Yeah, it it's a jigsaw in itself, let's be honest.
[1:55] But before we get into Alonzo's Monte Carlo, it's that time
[1:59] where we tell you about being an ATRM patron.
[2:01] Oh, lovely. Now, if you're a new listener,
[2:04] thank you for tuning in firstly. Yes.
[2:06] Thank you so much. Welcome.
[2:07] This is our main all the right movies, podcasts and only the
[2:10] most 20 episodes are available for everyone to listen to.
[2:13] That's for free. That's our gift to you.
[2:15] Lovely. Days.
[2:16] The rest live in our podcast archive.
[2:18] Now. This is episode 121, so there
[2:21] are 101 podcasts just like this waiting for you if you become a
[2:25] patron of all the right movies. And you can do that on Apple
[2:27] Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and Patreon.
[2:30] A lot of options. Yeah, everywhere.
[2:32] Also, if you support us on Patreon and YouTube, you get
[2:34] access to two additional exclusive movie podcasts that we
[2:37] create every month. First one is the Watch List
[2:40] where we review recent releases, give them the old ATRM Once Over
[2:45] and Double Feature where we pick two films against each other,
[2:47] with Training Day being a former winner on Double.
[2:50] Feature. Yes, that's right with
[2:52] Philadelphia. That one wasn't it?
[2:53] Philadelphia, Yeah. Yes, very nice.
[2:56] So that's well over two additional hours of podcasts
[2:59] each month on double feature in the watch list.
[3:01] There are loads of other benefits of becoming an ATR and
[3:03] patron, so sign up a Patreon, YouTube, or alternatively check
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[3:09] Nothing's free in this world, not arrest warrants or
[3:12] additional ATRM content, but we do give you bang for your buck.
[3:16] Yeah, certainly do. So if you can support us that
[3:18] would be brilliant. Whichever option you choose you
[3:20] we are in for a real treat. So thank you everyone.
[3:22] Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much.
[3:24] Now back to the streets of LA and Jacoit's training day.
[3:27] This was my choice. So what I want to talk about
[3:30] this film? I mean, I indeed why wouldn't
[3:32] anybody want to talk about this? There we are.
[3:34] Good point. There you go, that's 8 Westy
[3:37] moving on. Hour and a half episode.
[3:40] I never really paid the film any mind really, until a few years
[3:44] back when we had Cheer Serrano on the podcast talking about his
[3:47] favorite films when he was on life and movies, and this was
[3:50] one of them. And since then, it's just dug
[3:53] deeper and deeper into my psyche.
[3:55] It was compounded when we talked about it on Double Feature about
[3:58] a year, 18 months ago. I think there's just so much to
[4:02] love here. I think Antoine Fuqua's never
[4:04] made a better film. This was he was born to make
[4:07] this. Yeah.
[4:08] It's not high art, but it's packed with super cool costume
[4:12] design, raise, a sharp quotable dialogue, amazing locations in
[4:17] LA, and a performance from Denzel which would be in the
[4:19] contention for my top ten of all time.
[4:22] Big, big. Words, right of all time.
[4:24] Big words. Not just Denzel's performances.
[4:26] But no, No. OK.
[4:28] That is big words. I think the word powerhouse was
[4:30] created specifically for Denzel. Here he is untouchable.
[4:34] Yeah, he personifies the powerhouse.
[4:36] Absolutely. He really does.
[4:37] He really does, you know, It's got its fair share of plot holes
[4:40] and contrivances. A little bit, yeah.
[4:43] Two or three, that's all. That's.
[4:46] Not. Too many.
[4:48] That doesn't matter though. That's OK.
[4:50] When you got Denzel roaring like a lion in every scene, it
[4:53] doesn't matter if those contractors and plot holes were
[4:57] in lesser films that would have made those completely
[4:59] disposable, but this has got just billions going forward that
[5:02] it easily papers over the cracks.
[5:04] Yeah, definitely. But I'm sure we'll get into
[5:07] those cracks for certain. Yeah.
[5:10] Matt, what about you? Training Day.
[5:12] This was brought up on our last episode, and it made me realize,
[5:14] yeah, we've never talked about Denzel Washington on a classical
[5:17] for ages, which is ludicrous, really.
[5:20] But if you're going to talk about Denzel in depth, why
[5:22] wouldn't you salt with this? I mean, it's such, like you
[5:24] said, our house, it's a short boarding performance, but it
[5:28] does go hand in hand with the rest of the film.
[5:30] And my overall feeling on training day is this really
[5:33] didn't have to be or shouldn't have been this good as it is.
[5:36] I mean, yes, it does have flaws, but as you said, should be
[5:39] completely disposable and forgettable.
[5:41] But it isn't. And a lot of that is down to
[5:42] Denzel, but a lot of it is also down the fact that it just has
[5:45] at the heart of it a very small but very sharp and well horned
[5:49] central conundrum. It's a great what if film.
[5:51] What if you were in this scenario?
[5:53] How would you handle it? And I'm just saying that's a
[5:56] great taking off point for the rest of the film.
[5:57] Yeah. Yes, it is.
[5:58] Yeah, We'll be exploring those in detail.
[6:00] And what about you, Westie? Yeah, I mean, like I said, I'm
[6:03] double feature. I don't really think there's
[6:04] anything quite like it. I think it's the writing that
[6:06] really shines in here, to write as film.
[6:08] But at the same time, it's a performance film as well.
[6:11] And it is Denzel Washington film.
[6:12] And we're going to talk about Denzel on the classic.
[6:14] It's just because we've been waiting to talk about training
[6:16] there because what else are you going to put up really?
[6:18] Because he has, you know, he shares the screen with a lot of
[6:20] different actors with has incredible performances in other
[6:23] films. But this is front and center.
[6:25] He absolutely owns it. Some of the improv from is just
[6:28] unbelievably good. He's just consistently in
[6:30] character. But at the same time, I mean,
[6:32] I've seen this so many Times Now we're watching for double
[6:35] feature. I've watched it again a couple
[6:36] of times for this and it's a different film every time I
[6:38] watch it. That takes something away from
[6:40] it differently every single time.
[6:42] Constantly entertaining. Everything I love about cinema
[6:45] really. It just you don't feel like it's
[6:47] two hours at all. I always feel like this is on
[6:48] for about 45 minutes. I always feel like it's an
[6:50] episode, like you feel like it's a short episode or something.
[6:54] Just action-packed all the way through.
[6:55] Obviously we'll talk about Ethan Hawke as well.
[6:57] I think he's really underrated in this, and that is because of
[7:01] the shadow of Denzel Washington, one of his finest performances,
[7:04] and he really holds his own against Denzel.
[7:06] One of Denzel Washington's top five performances for me.
[7:09] Easy. So that's not an easy feat and
[7:11] he does really well with that. So yeah, there's a lot of talk
[7:13] about with this one. It's very exciting.
[7:15] There's a lot of different ways we can spin it.
[7:17] A few little plot holes, we'll try and paper over them, we'll
[7:19] try and dig into them. But yeah, ultimately we're going
[7:22] to be talking about 3 different films at three different times
[7:24] because. That's what it is.
[7:26] Training Day was written by David Ayer, directed by Antoine
[7:29] Fuqua, and produced by Bobby Knew Meyer and Jeffrey Silva for
[7:33] Village Roadshow Pictures distributed by Warner Brothers
[7:36] on October 5th, 2001. Shot largely on the streets of
[7:39] LA, it stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris, Ethan Hawke as
[7:43] Jake Hoyt, with support coming in the shape of Scott Glenn,
[7:47] Macy Gray, Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tom Barringer and Cliff
[7:50] Curtis. Lovely, Very nice.
[7:53] We're headed to downtown LA for the open and scenes of training
[7:56] day. The beginning.
[8:04] The peaceful surroundings of the Height household is where we're
[8:06] starting as Jake prepares for his big, big day.
[8:09] Yes, but let's just enjoy that quiet for a moment, because
[8:12] things are not going to stay that way for.
[8:15] About four minutes. Yeah, it.
[8:18] Is. I mean, it might be relative
[8:20] calm, but that sunrise coming up in the credits show you that
[8:23] Ellie is on fire and nobody can put it out.
[8:26] But then in the high household it couldn't be more idyllic.
[8:30] Jake's up to find his evangelic looking wife whispering sweet
[8:33] nothings while she nurses their infant child.
[8:36] Yeah, it's beautiful. Just missing that soundtrack to
[8:38] live and die in LA. This is where it needs it.
[8:43] Then she's making him coffee and bringing him his uniform.
[8:45] I mean, laying it on real thick that this whole thing is about
[8:49] to be blown completely apart. But there is a lot of subtlety
[8:54] here as well, which I love. Jake's wife answers the phone.
[8:56] We don't know who it is, but we know that whoever is on the
[9:00] other end of the phone is full of charm, considering his wife's
[9:03] giggling like a schoolgirl after 5 seconds of picking the phone
[9:06] up. Alonzo dishing out the
[9:08] compliments, no doubt. Smooth smoothie.
[9:10] Definitely. But there's also a wealth of
[9:13] plot development. In that 60 seconds that Jake's
[9:15] on the phone, the voice on the other end asked him if he's
[9:18] going to roll call, which is basically a police officer
[9:20] clocking in, among other things, of course.
[9:23] And Jake's advised against it, meaning that Alonzo's day
[9:25] doesn't turn out as planned. He can just bump Jake off and
[9:29] claim that he never showed up to work.
[9:31] Secondly, he asked him if he's got a second gun, which will
[9:33] come into play right at the end when Smiling and his crew are
[9:36] messing out with Jake's actual gun.
[9:38] He doesn't have a backup. And then mid sentence Alonzo
[9:41] hangs up on Jake. What Brick?
[9:44] We've got no idea who we're messing with here, but we've got
[9:47] a good impression of the character straight away.
[9:49] Yes. And we don't even see his face.
[9:52] No, no. So I go into the Dino where we
[9:54] do see his face. What a wonderful face.
[9:57] What a wonderful guy. It gives me a sweetheart.
[10:01] I mean, introductions to characters as the goal.
[10:04] I mean, we did mention this before in the previous podcast,
[10:06] but I mean, this is definitely up there.
[10:08] It's absolutely. Fantastic.
[10:10] You know same Dino where the shot 7 where the conversation
[10:13] with between Tracy and Somerset was.
[10:15] It's absolutely fantastic, the lovely setting, but it's just
[10:18] Jake is on the back foot. He's really trying calls him Sir
[10:21] when he sits down. The waitress comes to get some
[10:23] chowing you before go to the office.
[10:25] My dollar. And it's just that's the nicest.
[10:27] I think that's the nicest years throughout the whole film.
[10:29] Yeah, yeah. The angles here, the way it
[10:31] builds the characters, the way it builds the the worry from
[10:35] Jake and the confidence from Alonzo is just so well done by
[10:38] football because it's just built on shot choice and it's
[10:40] absolutely fantastic. We never, ever cut to a close up
[10:43] of Jake until the very end when he says I have a wife starts not
[10:47] about something. And then that's cut off.
[10:48] Everything is over the shoulder. Alonzo is in every single frame.
[10:52] Even when it's on Jake, he's in the frame somehow.
[10:54] He's so imposing. He's just puts that right.
[10:57] Tell us a story. Tell me a story, Not your story.
[10:59] This is it. I'll tell you a story.
[11:00] This is a newspaper. It's 90% bullshit, but it's
[11:03] entertaining. And again, that's the character
[11:05] who's 90% bullshit, but he's entertaining.
[11:08] He is the newspaper of what we're doing with the whole film,
[11:10] what we're taking, and he's making stuff up as he goes, but
[11:13] it's not cool when he tells the story.
[11:14] Jake goes into the story and then we'll go to that high
[11:16] angle, that observational angle where it's just the two of them
[11:19] in that two shot, like a security camera.
[11:21] Love that shot. I think it's brilliant.
[11:24] I would never have thought to put something like that that
[11:26] right in the middle of a dialogue sequence, but we are
[11:28] then just observing them as we do throughout the whole film.
[11:30] We're looking at these two. They're in the booth together.
[11:32] This is them now locked in there, then have to kind of deal
[11:36] with each other. And then it goes to Alonzo where
[11:38] he settles into this story. He's arm goes on the back of the
[11:41] seat, he sits down, he puts his paper down and then we're cut to
[11:44] that low angle on the table, a wide angle, and he's just fill
[11:49] in the frame, owns the screen. This is me now.
[11:52] This is my film and it's absolutely fantastic because
[11:55] that story that Jay pulls out is just like a kid telling me about
[11:57] going to school. It's just like, and then I did
[12:00] this and then it was good and then I got a lollipop.
[12:02] He's like, oh right, fucking DURDUR shit.
[12:07] And he's like getting these guns get so patronized in the end of
[12:11] the story. So you just, this is just
[12:12] ridiculous that you think I'm going to be entertained by this
[12:15] kind of story. You're a fucking boy.
[12:17] You're in a man's world and you've got a Dick, right?
[12:19] Your Dick's there either side of that two pockets richer or one
[12:22] of them. Play the bill boom out.
[12:24] I love that incredible the cameras from an observational
[12:27] point of view. So we're from the top and then
[12:30] we'll go to the bottom just to show how he much he owns that
[12:32] street on that track shot. It just comes across and he
[12:35] fills that frame. From here, it just snowballs and
[12:38] just rolls. We start really static.
[12:40] We start really still. We're going to an observational
[12:43] high shot. We see the world that they're
[12:44] in. We understand the pressure.
[12:46] We understand Jake's on the back for Alonzo's a bit of a fucking
[12:49] maniac. Yep.
[12:50] Bang. We're in.
[12:52] Yeah. It's so cool.
[12:54] I could pay the bill. Bang.
[12:56] It's the table, yeah. Amazing.
[12:58] Great introduction to the character.
[13:00] Yeah, it is. As you said, Westie, that diner
[13:02] is very familiar because it's in seven, it's in over 20 movies,
[13:08] including Gone in 60 Seconds and Catch Me If You Can as well.
[13:11] Right. Oh, OK, right.
[13:12] Yeah, Yes, it is. I remember now from country.
[13:14] Yeah, yeah. And all the scene you mean?
[13:16] Yeah, as costume designer Michelle Michelle balance police
[13:18] authenticity with St. credibility, she was aware that
[13:21] while filming an act of gang neighborhoods, costumes couldn't
[13:24] appear to Hollywood as they would disrespect the gang
[13:27] culture. Yes, well, all of Washington's
[13:29] wardrobe pieces were custom tailored.
[13:31] His all black palette immediately conveys his corrupt,
[13:34] intimidating presence, rejecting traditional police formality
[13:37] while maintaining the sleek, street smart aesthetic.
[13:41] He does that, all right. Yeah, right.
[13:43] And that jewelry creates kind of like a juxtaposition with his
[13:46] actions because he is far from holy, that religious jewelry.
[13:49] Yes. And this is a direct contrast to
[13:52] heights, earthy brown tones which give him just a more
[13:54] grounded feel, traditional feel. And he's completely at odds with
[13:59] the way that Alonso looks. Yeah, it gives him a natural
[14:02] element to his persona as well as he's just an honest person.
[14:06] Yes, that's right. Yeah.
[14:07] And. Then they're in the car and
[14:08] Alonso is in full floor. Today is a trainer day off site,
[14:12] just in case he hadn't worked out what the title of the film
[14:14] means by now. I appreciate that a little bit.
[14:15] OK, that's what's going on. But then it's this constant
[14:19] barrage of information, all the numbers of the cases he's
[14:21] working on, the ones he's put away, the number of people he's
[14:24] got working from Jacobi #6 and he knows what's what.
[14:27] Like he sees through that textbook response.
[14:30] When he asks Jake why he wants to be an arc, he gives the odds.
[14:32] Want to serve the community? No, why do you want to be an
[14:34] arc? Because I want to make
[14:36] detective. There you go, that's what it's
[14:38] about. Because Jake is just, like,
[14:40] enraptured by way. He says I will do anything you
[14:42] want me to do. And it hangs in the air, and
[14:45] there's the slightest of smirks on Alonzo's face as he pauses
[14:49] and takes at the end of he says a word that we're not going to
[14:51] repeat. The light bulb goes off at that
[14:54] point. He's got him, got him, got him
[14:57] on that hook. And he's got him on hook though,
[14:58] because everything he says makes sense.
[15:00] You know, wind your window down, you've got to smell the sweets,
[15:02] you've got to heave the street. How's the Espanol?
[15:05] All these rapid fire questions, which makes so much sense.
[15:07] And you totally get why Jake is so engaged with this guy,
[15:10] because you are as well. Until then, he does bring up
[15:12] Jake's marriage and he finds out he's got a baby girl.
[15:14] I've got four boys. You want a son, let me know.
[15:17] I can't miss. Yeah, that's outrageous.
[15:19] Like your old lady up? Yeah, exactly.
[15:22] Like, hold on, why are you seeing this?
[15:24] It's so out of the blue. It's so inappropriate and it's
[15:27] the first time I think you see this is Alonso push and shakes
[15:31] buttons and seeing where James boundaries are, what's going to
[15:33] trigger him off? Where can he push this guy?
[15:35] But it's so cleverly written because just when he sort of
[15:38] think that he pulls it back to being another lesson.
[15:41] You know, that's my point. This is the type of so if you've
[15:43] got to hide like that create line, the day you bring your old
[15:46] lady to the office is the day you don't make it home getting
[15:49] advice, you know, don't wear your wedding ring out to you.
[15:51] They'll use it. The markets the latter.
[15:53] That makes sense. Exactly.
[15:55] Everything he's coming out with is so tent lies and you
[15:57] definitely want to see where this data is going to go from
[16:00] here. Yeah, incredible stuff when he
[16:03] gets in that car, That car. Outrageous.
[16:08] This is the office baby. Sexy in it.
[16:12] Yes. So Speaking of his cars, cars
[16:14] heavily customized Monte Carlo featuring hydraulic suspension
[16:17] for low rider style hops. Obviously I know loads about
[16:20] that. There's a flow master exhaust in
[16:22] there, dating wire wheels with white walls and Chrome
[16:25] detailing. I mean, it looks unbelievable.
[16:28] Yeah. You know what wouldn't look
[16:30] unbelievable? Me driving it and then hitting
[16:31] the wrong button and popping me way down downtown and I'll be
[16:36] just crying. I imagine you'd be like data
[16:41] from the Goonies, slick shoes and stuff punching people.
[16:49] Yeah, that car was stolen during production but recovered within
[16:52] 24 hours with the help of local gang members.
[16:55] Wow, right? Not on their watch, no.
[16:58] DMA and editor Conrad Buff was faced with a tough job when it
[17:01] came to the cutting room because these car scenes the featured
[17:04] serious tonal differences between the material within a
[17:07] given scene. Because Washington would
[17:09] fluctuate his energy from exhaustion to enthusiasm, from
[17:12] take to take to take, he was just given options because he
[17:15] was exploring the character along the way.
[17:17] Yeah, Buff said that even in between takes, he was laughing
[17:20] and joking with Hulk as well. So it was just totally all over
[17:24] the place, right? He said he had to bend,
[17:27] manipulate and unify. The performance in the sculpt
[17:30] and process helped create the character's consistency across
[17:32] varying shooting conditions and smooth and energy transitions
[17:35] between shots. I mean, an editor's job is
[17:39] incredibly tricky. It's not just chopping things
[17:41] and just putting things together.
[17:43] It's it's creating consistency. Yeah.
[17:45] Between the takes as well and sometimes that overlaps, and the
[17:48] amount of times that these these shots overlap purely with the
[17:51] sound design making them connect is more often than you would
[17:55] think. Yeah, it's really tough job.
[17:57] Incredible stuff. So Jake is now in the office,
[18:00] but there's no water cooler or recliner chairs in this
[18:02] environment. Nope, just the hops.
[18:07] It's been a bumpy ride so far, and it's about to get a whole
[18:09] load worse for Jake, starting with a routine pullover.
[18:13] Matt, over to you. No, it's a cardigan, but thanks
[18:16] for asking. Nothing routine about it.
[18:23] I mean, this scene, it's like taking a peek under the hood and
[18:26] seeing how everything works at this point.
[18:28] And everything is deconstructed for Jake because the 17 year old
[18:31] kid that Alonso points out he's killed with the best of them,
[18:34] but he works for Alonzo and he allows to sell drugs to support
[18:37] his family. So everything Jake's taken for
[18:38] granted in his career so far. As Alonso says, you're going to
[18:41] have to forget all that because it just doesn't apply.
[18:44] You know, those rules do not work out here.
[18:46] And then you've got that create line when Alonso says he's going
[18:49] to do a family stop on the buyers and Jake says all the
[18:51] look like college kids, they're going to get an education today.
[18:54] Love it. Yeah.
[18:55] Brilliant. And then they do because again,
[18:57] it's that continuation of Jake just having to think, oh, God,
[19:00] all that stuff I just need to not do because he tries to call
[19:02] it in. And Alonso, just stay off of the
[19:06] Rover, just like spelling out of you are a kid, you know, do what
[19:11] I say. It's brilliant.
[19:12] Yeah. And you can see when he's pulled
[19:13] them over and Alonso says, yanking that guy's ear, just the
[19:16] look on Shake's face like he's not allowed to do that, is he?
[19:19] You can't, like, just assault someone.
[19:21] He's not even being arrested. Yeah.
[19:23] And obviously we'll be saying this stuff.
[19:24] But Alonso in full floor, it's just impossible to take your
[19:28] eyes off him. Just to go from that wonderful,
[19:30] intense, terrifying guy where he says I'm going to let the horn,
[19:33] he's running a train on your girlfriend.
[19:34] You know what that means, right? What a threat that is.
[19:37] So then at the end, when he's got what he's wanted out them,
[19:39] OK, gentlemen, thank you for your cooperation.
[19:41] And then just lets them go. Like you can't get a handle on
[19:44] this guy at all. And Jake is barely keeping up
[19:46] with them at this point. Yeah, when he screams at Jake as
[19:49] well. To secure yourself.
[19:50] Yeah, but then he does it anyway for him, like against the
[19:53] windscreen. He knows he's doing it.
[19:54] He knows exactly he's got control over the whole
[19:56] situation. Move those hands and they'll
[19:58] slap the taste out of your mouth.
[20:01] Don't want that happening, no. So from there, they secured some
[20:06] what he calls terrible drugs. Just probably a year old.
[20:09] Look at that crap. But yeah, everyone's got
[20:13] secrets. And now Jake has to smoke it.
[20:15] And you just think, hold on a second, what?
[20:18] And this is so uncomfortable to watch because you just think
[20:21] not, right? He's the bad guy.
[20:22] I've made my mind up now. He's awful.
[20:25] But then all of these actions are made absolutely clear.
[20:28] And you kind of think, oh, this is tough love.
[20:31] This is how you've got to do it on the streets.
[20:32] Every no cut narcotics officer needs narcotics in the system.
[20:35] And just like, does that make sense?
[20:37] I think you might actually, I don't know.
[20:40] You've got to understand the product to be able to then chase
[20:42] it and chase the people who are addicted to it.
[20:44] Maybe you've got to know how it feels and, and you just, if you
[20:47] understand something, you can catch it.
[20:49] I think that's the whole point. I think fear is, is
[20:51] misunderstanding, isn't it? Fear is is not known.
[20:53] And the more you understand something, the less you fear it
[20:56] and the more the more efficient you are.
[20:58] And I totally get that from this scene.
[21:00] It makes perfect sense. It's just that these methods
[21:03] seem really caring and really unethical at the same time.
[21:06] As an audience as well, we're on JX side and we're kind of like,
[21:09] oh shit, you shouldn't have done that.
[21:10] But then he brings it up again and kind of punches him a little
[21:13] bit with it, just like he brought up, you know, he can't
[21:15] miss with these misses. It's just like he brings up this
[21:17] horrible thing and slaps him a bit and then pulls back and
[21:20] apologizes for the slap and kind of rubs his face and then slaps
[21:23] him a little bit. You know, the PCP.
[21:25] And that's what you've just had. I didn't have any.
[21:26] But you do. No, nobody said anything.
[21:28] It's like I put a gun to your head.
[21:29] He knows he's not going to remember it.
[21:31] You know, he's got about 12th grade.
[21:32] And what were you doing smoking weed?
[21:34] Smoking weed. And he's just written the piss
[21:37] out of them. And again, this is just so
[21:39] beautifully shot because the amount of close-ups on Denzel is
[21:43] so powerful because he's just there and he's fill in the
[21:46] frame. He's looking across.
[21:47] It comes back to Jake's carrot and it's across the car, he's in
[21:50] the background. Especially when he lights the
[21:51] pipe for the first time and Alonso just leans in and watches
[21:54] him do. It over his shoulder.
[21:57] He's constantly there and there's not cut, the virgin
[21:59] lungs cut, but it cuts to like a close up to like outside the
[22:02] car. So that was seen that the street
[22:05] that he's in, the whole place he's controlling just grinds to
[22:09] a stop as well. In the middle of an
[22:10] intersection? Outrageous.
[22:12] Points the gun at somebody. Shut the fuck up.
[22:14] Yeah, that's got complete control of the whole city.
[22:18] Like, who is this guy? He's nobody can possibly stop
[22:21] him. He's just a powerhouse of a
[22:22] character. And at this point, I don't think
[22:24] any of us in that moment, in that car, at that time with that
[22:28] mentality wanting to do a good job would not take that.
[22:31] We all would 100% take a hit of that.
[22:33] And then as you're going through it, you just think I shouldn't
[22:35] have done. That.
[22:38] Why did I do that? Massive remorse immediately.
[22:41] And it's the way that's directed as well, because that green
[22:43] filter just could have been cheese on toast.
[22:45] It could. It could have been.
[22:46] Oh, God, that's just so cliche at all.
[22:49] Right. He's stored PCP.
[22:50] We've seen it all before, but it's just so beautifully done.
[22:53] And just that greenness to it, that sickness to it, you feel
[22:56] completely unnerved and sick. The waste Jake does.
[22:59] Yeah. Great scene, really unsettling,
[23:01] but again, really confusing for the audience.
[23:03] Yeah, really, really confusing. I.
[23:05] Think it's supposed to be there wasn't.
[23:06] Oh yeah, without doubt that green filter and everything's
[23:09] going slow more I love it when Alonzo's reeling off all the
[23:13] slang words I didn't know you you like to get wet and just
[23:16] like well, what does wet means like you know butt naked I'll
[23:19] dust PCP Primo P dog What the fuck does that mean I.
[23:27] Don't know that you did. Oh, what?
[23:29] I didn't know you like that shit.
[23:30] It's like you've just made a smoke.
[23:31] You. Made me smoke it, yeah.
[23:33] Amazing. You love it, don't you?
[23:35] The ultimate bully. He is the ultimate bully.
[23:38] Yeah, we're laughing at him. Because he's not here, that's
[23:42] why. It's nowhere near us.
[23:45] So if you weren't in the room, I'd be like, yes, Sir, no
[23:48] problem. I'll turn this mic off right
[23:49] now. Give us a Give us a crack pipe.
[23:54] So, with Jake at the zenith of his trip, they stopped by an old
[23:57] body of Alonzo's for a drink. You know why not?
[23:59] It must be at least 10 AM. Not a problem.
[24:02] Massive shot of whiskey. PCP and a shot of whiskey.
[24:07] Honestly, God and. No breakfast.
[24:10] No, you fucked that up. You did tell him to have some
[24:13] food by yeah, you got that. PCP is really going to kick
[24:17] anything else. Now this scene does feel like a
[24:23] bit of a come down, if you'll excuse the metaphor.
[24:27] The tone slows right down in no small part.
[24:30] Roger's parable about his little snail.
[24:33] But I suppose this has got to be in there to show that Alonzo,
[24:36] who clearly has a lot of love for Roger in this scene, is
[24:39] willing to wipe him out without hesitation later.
[24:42] Or maybe he's telling the truth later when he says that he had
[24:45] to get close to him to take him down.
[24:47] Or is that what he wants Jake to believe to get him back on side?
[24:51] Who knows? That thing isn't it.
[24:53] Who? Knows it goes, it snakes, it
[24:54] goes in and out. But that's what makes the
[24:56] character so fascinating, what makes the writing so good and
[25:00] makes this scene essential because it does obviously set up
[25:03] the killing scene later. Yeah.
[25:05] And there are a couple of moments in this scene that are
[25:07] important small details that could go unnoticed, best of
[25:10] which is the phone call that Roger gets.
[25:12] He says it's your mess, you clean it up.
[25:14] Presumably he's still messed up in a load of dodgy dealings and
[25:18] backs up Alonso's claim later that he was up to no good, even
[25:22] he needed to be taken out. And somehow Roger knows that how
[25:26] he played college football, he never forgets a good player
[25:30] somehow. But this just adds to Jake's
[25:33] athletic ability, making his physicality as a cop believable.
[25:36] I think for me, yeah. Particularly that scene when he
[25:38] chases down those two hobo's. Yeah.
[25:40] Yes. And during the scene, Roger
[25:42] tells a joke about a snail who gets injured, breaks a shell and
[25:46] is left for dead. But he recovers and after a year
[25:48] makes it back to the same place as the previous year.
[25:51] And some say this is foreshadowing going on.
[25:52] Here is by the end, Jake is the snail, injured close to death
[25:56] but with the resilience to return to the source was being
[25:59] unconfronted. Roger finishes that story by
[26:01] saying when you understand that joke, you'll have figured out
[26:04] the streets. And I suppose that's what Jake
[26:06] does by the end of it. Yeah, yeah.
[26:09] Even though Jake thinks he's already figured it out with his
[26:11] smiles and cries theory, which doesn't carry too much weight
[26:15] for me to be honest, doesn't even make sense.
[26:17] No it doesn't. So Jake's been through some low
[26:19] points. So far, nothing.
[26:20] A few hits of PCP and a large measure of whiskey once
[26:23] although. Obviously, that's all about.
[26:29] The director. The third cinematic out in for
[26:33] Anton Fuqua, following the Replacement Killers and Bait
[26:37] Training Day, is where he joined the big leagues though.
[26:40] It is, and I just feel that he is overflowing with confidence
[26:44] and swagger, or certainly that's what comes across on screen.
[26:47] I said the top that this feels like the film he was born to
[26:49] make and it just feels like the perfect marriage of director and
[26:52] material. His first two films showed
[26:54] promise, but they won't necessarily stand the test of
[26:57] time. No, no.
[26:59] But this is another beast entirely.
[27:01] It is, I think he makes the written word pulse with
[27:03] electricity and excitement. I really believe that he was
[27:06] instrumental in getting that performance out of Denzel
[27:09] because he'd found somebody who's talking his language.
[27:11] Metaphorically of course. Look at that combination of the
[27:15] edit and shot as he transitions from the down of the street like
[27:18] you talked about. Westie pay the bill, bang
[27:20] hardcore low angle track and shot across the street as Alonzo
[27:23] saunters to his pimp mobile. I mean that is just full of
[27:28] style. Now that could have been shot
[27:30] and edited a load of different ways, but Fuqua does so in a way
[27:34] that matches the energy of Alonzo, the urgency of
[27:37] narrative. Flashy for certain, but I don't
[27:40] think it's just there to make it look sexy.
[27:42] It works in perfect harmony with what the film is about, with the
[27:45] character of the film, and that is confidence, its style, its
[27:49] authenticity. It brings those gang streets to
[27:52] life with such a threatening menace.
[27:54] This doesn't feel like actors on a stage.
[27:56] It feels like what it is, real people, real locations,
[27:59] reinforcing what the film's about.
[28:01] And that's why it's got such a legacy, I think, because Fuqua
[28:04] brings that authenticity. Not the only one, but he
[28:07] certainly adds to it. That scene where Alonso's crew
[28:10] meet Jake for the first time? That doesn't need to be on the
[28:13] top of a skyscraper. What a meeting place it's.
[28:19] Outrageous. It's.
[28:20] Very heat though. Isn't it?
[28:21] It's very heat? Yes, it is.
[28:23] And it frames these cops as untouchable, a standing toll
[28:27] above Elliot, the city that they own.
[28:29] That line delivery of the guys may be questionable,
[28:32] particularly Dre and the costume design and those tough guys,
[28:36] they don't fantastic, but you don't remember that.
[28:38] You remember the visual, the style and the authenticity for
[28:41] me. And I think that's what Fuqua
[28:42] brings here. I think he brings a very
[28:44] grounded approach to this because he's not the type of
[28:47] high fluting director who's going to look to bring something
[28:50] that isn't there. You know, I think he's a smart
[28:52] guy who realizes there's not a lot of thematic depth to this.
[28:56] So why gender otherwise? You know, he knows what the
[28:59] audience wants from this, which is that clash of moralities that
[29:02] will spiral into out and out conflict between the two.
[29:05] And he knows how to deliver it. And I think if you look this
[29:07] filmography, it seems to me like this is a guy who he watches a
[29:10] lot of TV and he watches a lot of B movies on TV.
[29:13] But he's got the sensibility and the smarts to take those
[29:16] influences and make them cinematic.
[29:18] And he is a very cinematic director, the editor.
[29:21] And as you've said, it's really sharp.
[29:22] There's not a trace of fat on this film.
[29:24] No, two hours as well. Exactly, and it flies by.
[29:28] And he's done a lot of TV after this as well as yes he has.
[29:30] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I say, I think that's just
[29:32] a sensibility and he knows he can let Denzel go big because
[29:35] that will contrast with Hawke's approach.
[29:38] His framing is excellent. As we've been saying, he knows
[29:40] the value of a close up, but more than that, the value of
[29:43] holding on a close up. There's so many scenes in this
[29:46] where the power of the scene comes from holding on Alonzo's
[29:49] face after he said something really outrageous and really not
[29:52] sure how to take it. And he doesn't cut from it or he
[29:54] will hold on Jake's face because he doesn't know how to take it
[29:57] either. And that disturbs of the
[29:58] confusion. So, you know, he might be in the
[30:01] conversation for like the least pretentious director we've ever
[30:04] talked about and his influences or Clay was there.
[30:06] And I wouldn't say he elevates those influences in the way
[30:09] let's see John Carpenter does with B movies.
[30:12] You know, he's not on that level.
[30:13] But all the same, to go back what I said, they're very soft
[30:17] for something that could be very disposable, very forgettable,
[30:19] very generic. Yes, Washington deserves a lot
[30:22] of credit for, But so does. Yeah, I'm very much the same.
[30:25] I can kind of see him on sets, in the camera.
[30:28] Placement is going to be here, not it has to be here.
[30:32] Do you know what I mean? He's got that sensibility where
[30:34] he says this is going to be like this, it doesn't have to be like
[30:37] this because I want it like this.
[30:38] It's this is the way it's going to exist.
[30:40] He seems to be a very organic director, especially when it
[30:43] comes to actors and especially when it comes to Denzel.
[30:46] I think working with him, he opens a lot of doors and gives
[30:48] him a lot of space and he really appreciates Denzel Washington is
[30:51] not. But in Denzel, Washington just
[30:54] owns the film, lets him do it. He allows for a lot of movement
[30:58] and a lot of improvisation, I think, and there's a lot of
[31:00] Denzel in this where the camera is very lenient.
[31:03] It doesn't seem like it's locked off.
[31:06] It feels like it can move somewhere if it needs to.
[31:09] It feels quite fluid when you're watching this film.
[31:11] I think that's why it's so easy to watch and how it just rolls
[31:14] from 1 scene to the next. I think what he does with the
[31:17] sound design as well, kind of really what we've talked about
[31:19] before it appeared was over a lot of the cracks of the cuts
[31:22] and these cuts seem to flow very organically.
[31:24] There's a real silkiness to the direction, just a slow flowing
[31:27] river and Denzel's just the rocks that it hits every now and
[31:31] again and it's just nice to going the floor down.
[31:33] But then he's got that opportunity to move the tide
[31:36] where he wants to. But football knows exactly where
[31:38] this where the streams going and he keeps the same pace in that
[31:41] tide all the way through. To me, just seems like an
[31:44] absolute team player and a sweet, sweet guy.
[31:47] It's just a real canvas for performance and technical
[31:50] direction and editing. I think it's fantastic stuff.
[31:53] It certainly is. Yeah.
[31:54] Big praise for Fuqua. Yeah, he's done a great job
[31:57] here. Yeah, he has.
[31:58] When Warner Brothers originally bought David is Training Day
[32:00] script, more on that later. Of course, they had Davis
[32:04] Guggenheim, known for his TV work, installed as director.
[32:07] Right. With Samuel L Jackson and Matt
[32:09] Damon attached to * as Alonzo and Jake.
[32:12] Right, OK, which? Wouldn't have been too bad, I
[32:14] don't think you know I. Could say that working yet?
[32:16] It worked out that Sam Jackson eventually left and was replaced
[32:20] by Denzel, who then requested that Guggenheim be replaced as
[32:23] well. Outrageous.
[32:26] Guggenheim never really got a gig again.
[32:28] He largely went into documentary filmmaking and.
[32:31] One has put a lot of faith in Denzel and he ended up having a
[32:34] big say in the creative choices. His first was to recommend
[32:37] Antoine Fuqua as director and this came after Denzel's wife
[32:40] Paulette a piece and it recommended him after seeing his
[32:43] previous film The Replacement Killers.
[32:45] Yes, that's with cherry and fat. It is, yes.
[32:48] Denzel watched it and liked the way he constructed action
[32:51] sequences. He thought that Fuqua could
[32:52] capture the complexity of the character of Alonzo and Ellie's
[32:56] street level authenticity as well, which I mean, we've talked
[32:58] about, confirmed. Yeah, football was used to the
[33:02] training day world. Growing up in a Pittsburgh
[33:04] ghetto, this helped bring authenticity to the film.
[33:07] He saw it as being all about the abuse of power based on his own
[33:10] childhood experiences. Yeah, I think you can tell that
[33:12] he he's seen it. He's been there.
[33:14] There's an authenticity there is without it being cheesy.
[33:18] And two police technical advisors, Michael Patterson from
[33:21] LAPD and Paulo Zorda from SFPD, They're in true procedures
[33:25] accuracy throughout the production.
[33:27] And Patterson had spent 10 years of his career patrolling Ellias
[33:30] notoriously dangerous Firestone Park, and he provided reality
[33:33] checks for the actors in Fuqua. Yeah.
[33:35] So we had like advisors on set, as you would expect, yeah.
[33:39] Definitely for out of the authenticity.
[33:40] Fuqua wanted to film in off limits areas of LA such as South
[33:44] Central, Inglewood, Rampart, Echo Park, Lincoln Heights and
[33:47] Imperial Courts. It was football's background in
[33:50] the hoods of Pittsburgh that earned him respect and trust
[33:52] from real gang members. Yes boy sounds like the boy
[33:55] he's. Like, yeah, of course he is.
[33:57] He can take care of it. He knows what time it is of.
[33:58] Course he does. Fuqua's friend Cle, born Shaheed
[34:02] Sloan, was invaluable in secure in these locations that you're
[34:06] talking about. Westie he was a former Athens
[34:08] Park Blood gang member turned community activist and Ellie a
[34:12] gang banging historian. Wow, I need to get some friends
[34:15] like that. I've got nothing.
[34:17] Are we not cool enough? I've got nothing in that cannon.
[34:22] We're not. We're not walking into
[34:23] Inglewood. Are you fucking kidding?
[34:25] I'm not walking out. We're walking.
[34:28] We're not coming out. You heard of all the right?
[34:37] Also plays the gang member who points his gun at Alonzo during
[34:39] the King Kong scene and let's Jake off the hook.
[34:41] Oh. Yeah, great.
[34:42] Right? He's great.
[34:44] He's amazing. And Fuqua filled out the
[34:45] background of these locations with residents of the actual
[34:48] neighborhoods. He also recruited real gang
[34:50] members from the notorious LA gangs, the Bloods and Crips to
[34:53] maintain the highest level of authenticity throughout
[34:56] production. Comes across it jumps off screen
[34:59] talking about these iconic locations.
[35:01] That leads us to our first question from an ATR M Patron.
[35:05] This is from Ben Carr. Hello, Ben.
[35:08] Hello, Ben. Hi, Ben.
[35:10] Now, Ben's a patron of all the right movies.
[35:11] If you want to ask us a question for the films that we're talking
[35:14] about, you can become a patron as well.
[35:16] Lovely. The door is open.
[35:17] It is. Ben says hi guys.
[35:20] Hi, Ben. One of the main parts of
[35:22] Training Day That's Day With Me, apart from Denzel's performance,
[35:25] was the bringing to life of LA. So gritty and dangerous.
[35:28] LA and New York have been brought to life brilliantly so
[35:31] many times over the years. Which of the two cities would
[35:33] you choose and what's your fear? Flick set in one of them.
[35:36] OK, Westie. It's really difficult, isn't it?
[35:39] I think, but I mean, New York, you kind of know what you're
[35:42] going to get. It sets the tone I think a
[35:44] little bit too much. Where LA couldn't be a little
[35:47] bit different. It's it's more varied, I think
[35:50] so, yeah. If you imagine like Once Upon a
[35:51] Time in Hollywood and then you imagine like the player on
[35:54] Nightcrawler or this is like downtown LA as you imagine Heat.
[35:57] But I think me absolute favorite, I'm going to pick LA.
[36:01] OK, yeah, great place, great city.
[36:03] Merely because I've been and it just screamed of like cinema to
[36:07] me. Everywhere I look just felt
[36:09] like, oh, you can put a camera there.
[36:11] The light was what I'd always seen on screen.
[36:14] Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've yet to go to New York as
[36:16] probably the same thing will happen then.
[36:17] I'll answer it in a completely different way when I go to New
[36:18] York at some point. But yeah, it's Ellie and it has
[36:20] to be Chinatown. Oh yeah, yeah.
[36:23] At everything I saw, even now going through Ellie, I just saw
[36:25] elements of that film and it really stuck with me as like a
[36:28] real cinematic masterpiece. When I first saw that, I was
[36:30] quite young watching it, and it really did kind of set the scene
[36:34] of this is a cinematic city. So for me, it's Ellie and it's
[36:37] definitely Chinatown. Love it.
[36:39] What about you, Matt? Yeah, I'm also going to LA.
[36:41] Just the fact that's where Hollywood itself is.
[36:45] I just think Lai think of the sunset, Sunset Strip itself, you
[36:48] know, the place where people dream of making a big.
[36:51] And I think there's something romantic and tragic about LA at
[36:54] the same time. People's dreams can either come
[36:56] true or you can end up like the Black Dahlia.
[36:59] You know, that true story, what happened there.
[37:01] And I think those two things are completely intertwined in LA.
[37:04] So and always he's gone Chinatown.
[37:06] So I'll go something different. A real favorite of mine.
[37:08] I would go fairly confidential, no, because I think it does have
[37:11] that combination in that film of that Hollywood glamour, but the
[37:14] CD Underbelly at the same time. Really nice.
[37:17] Yeah, Yeah. That's a good LA double feature
[37:19] right there. Lovely it'd.
[37:22] Be really nice. That's a long day, but you know,
[37:24] yeah, to live and. Die.
[37:32] This is a reference to To Live and Die and Ellie, the Billy
[37:35] freaking film. We covered it on double feature
[37:37] maybe six months ago and that Wang Chung score soundtrack
[37:41] still baffles. Me Outrageous.
[37:43] Still baffled by. Outrageous.
[37:46] If you've never seen who Wang Chung are, look them up because
[37:48] they look nothing like you'd expect about no Wang Chung to
[37:51] look like to look. Out sound like yeah, I'd
[37:55] obviously choose New York, of course, but as we're in LA, I'm
[37:58] going from a film from each city.
[38:00] I'm doing a bit of a westie here.
[38:02] Oh, very nice. Yeah.
[38:03] I mean, I expected this kind of answer from me of course.
[38:06] So my first quintessential Elliot film, because we've
[38:09] talked about a lot of these things and a lot of locations
[38:12] I've gone for films that I wouldn't necessarily have talked
[38:14] about. OK, OK.
[38:15] So I'm going for Nightcrawler as my LA movie.
[38:19] You really get a sense of the sprawling city streets, how
[38:22] appealing and alluring they are. But once you're there, it's as
[38:25] dangerous as hell. And if you get taken down,
[38:27] you're going to be headline news bought by the highest bidder.
[38:30] Love the ruthlessness of that. Yes.
[38:33] And my New York film. Well, it's obviously all of
[38:35] them. But like I said, mentioned loads
[38:37] on previous episodes. So April Ferraro is out of the
[38:39] question. So I'm going to go a little left
[38:41] field because one of my favourites is Working Girl.
[38:45] Oh. Nice, yeah.
[38:47] Great. Melanie Griffith, Sigourney
[38:48] Weaver? Harrison Ford.
[38:49] Would you ever expect him to play second fiddle to anyone in
[38:52] 1988? No.
[38:54] You better believe it with this material.
[38:55] He's wonderful in that. Film, he's amazing.
[38:57] He's. So fun.
[38:58] He's fantastic. It's a great time portal to 80s
[39:01] New York or big hair and shoulder pads.
[39:03] The locations are incredible, Staten Island furry, and there's
[39:06] incredible aerial shots of Manhattan that just take your
[39:09] breath away. Amazing.
[39:10] Yeah. Well, thank you very much for
[39:12] the question, Ben. A great one to kick us off.
[39:14] Yes, Thank you, Ben. So third time's a charm for
[39:17] Antoine Fuqua. The film that allowed him to do
[39:20] anything he wanted in Hollywood, basically after this, The film
[39:23] that he will be remembered for above everything else in his
[39:25] career, no doubt, Yeah. I believe so, yes.
[39:31] The cast. We're talking about the two main
[39:35] players in training day, the only people that matter.
[39:38] Ethan Hawke as Jake Height, he's coming up.
[39:41] But first a man mountain of a performance from Denzel
[39:44] Washington as Alonzo Harris. Westie.
[39:47] Yeah. Do they come any bigger?
[39:48] I don't know if they come much bigger.
[39:50] He owns it. He owns the film, he owns the
[39:52] screen, he owns the dialogue, he owns other people's dialogue,
[39:55] can do what he wants in this film and it works.
[39:57] I don't think there's any part of this where you go maybe
[40:01] that's a bit over the top or maybe he's just overwhelmed it
[40:03] there which overplayed it there every single time.
[40:07] In any film where I see people just go a little bit too far or
[40:10] push it a little bit too much, and it's often with kind of the
[40:13] scene that they have in the car where they do the wolf whistle,
[40:15] the little bit, it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[40:17] If that normally happens in film, I'm like, oh, please be
[40:20] over. Please be over.
[40:21] Yeah. But he does it.
[40:22] Yeah. And it's genuinely terrifying.
[40:24] Yeah. It's just unsettlingly
[40:25] terrified. It's just an result to Rooster.
[40:27] Give us, give us wolf. And it's like, no, I believe
[40:30] that that doesn't shrink his character or make him seem like
[40:32] he's overplaying it. He knows exactly where the
[40:35] brackets are on this character and they are quite far apart.
[40:38] And he's talking about sheep and wolves and that duality.
[40:41] But he is at once a sheep and then he is at once a wolf.
[40:45] He's caring for Jake. He's looking out for him.
[40:47] He's trying to make him prepared for the streets.
[40:49] And at the same time, he's biting into him.
[40:50] He's ripping his head off. He's making them small PCP.
[40:52] He's putting guns to his head. He's putting them into harm's
[40:55] ways. He could die at that point.
[40:57] And he knows that he can bounce between these two characters of
[41:00] these two personas are these two sides of this character with
[41:04] absolute ease. It's just a joy to watch him do
[41:07] it is because we're getting to watch him do it in the same
[41:10] take, not the same scene, but the same shot.
[41:13] He kind of bounces between the two if he wants to.
[41:16] Such an endearing presence in some ways, where you kind of
[41:19] want to be his friend, but you never want to see him again.
[41:22] It's kind of you want him around you because he has this
[41:24] confidence, but it's so misplaced.
[41:26] He shows some real regret and some real emotion towards the
[41:30] end of the film. There's some real kind of
[41:32] powerful messages there that aren't overplayed and aren't on
[41:35] the page and aren't just kind of spelled out.
[41:37] It's an incredible performance. I feel sorry for him by the end
[41:40] when he shouted for his money. I feel sorry for him kind of
[41:43] halfway through at some points as well, which I'll kind of get
[41:46] into because I'll watch this again thinking that this guy is
[41:50] probably one of the best on the Force.
[41:52] He's gone undercover to find out and get the dirt on the three
[41:56] wise men, which is Tom Barringer and the other two in the talking
[41:59] about them guys. He's basically been put
[42:01] undercover to blow the lid on them and that's what he has to
[42:04] do and he has to sacrifice Jake in order to do it and then get
[42:06] away with the money and get away with Sarah at the end.
[42:09] Don't think he's married with four kids.
[42:10] I think that's just his persona, that made-up by the Force, which
[42:13] you get that at the end. So if you watch this film again,
[42:15] thinking he was amazing and he is basically uncovering all of
[42:18] the corruption, he's framing them of the four cops.
[42:21] He's taking Roger out because he's framing him as well.
[42:23] He knows where the money is. He's basically framing the three
[42:26] wise men. He's putting everybody through
[42:28] it. Unfortunately, Jake's just the
[42:29] rookie that he has to do. Didn't you?
[42:32] Yeah, because you did what you had to do.
[42:34] Didn't you put the chokehold on him?
[42:35] That was illegal. But I was going to be asked.
[42:37] Yeah, you did what you had to do.
[42:39] There's all these moments where you can tap into it, where he's
[42:41] genuinely a nice guy and then a nightmare.
[42:43] So you don't know all of these? Things you never know.
[42:46] What are his motivations? What are his true motivations?
[42:49] We don't you'll. Never know.
[42:50] You never know. That's the point.
[42:52] Go. You don't know where he's from,
[42:56] you don't know his background, you don't know his motivations,
[42:58] and the beautiful thing about this character is you don't want
[43:01] to. You don't.
[43:02] It's so open-ended, it could be interpreted a million different
[43:05] ways. It's got it all larger than
[43:07] life. It just explodes from the
[43:09] screen. Those scenes in the car when
[43:10] he's howling out that they build jails because of me, that's just
[43:14] pure. Who is amazing.
[43:15] Yeah. I've never been so drawn to an
[43:18] absolute bastard of a performance.
[43:21] Dynasine that sets him up was absolutely loathsome individual.
[43:24] But I'm watching that with bated breath at the next barbed insult
[43:28] and veiled threat. Takes and takes and takes.
[43:32] And just when he's right at the edge, he pulls it back and
[43:34] starts saying things that absolutely makes sense.
[43:36] And then he back on his side, ready for the next heinous act
[43:39] or comment. And it's that physicality, that
[43:41] amazing outfit. He's almost dressed like a Jesus
[43:44] figure but in black, so it's quite confusing.
[43:46] And he rains down holy hell on all the encounters and he's got
[43:51] absolute control and he's just larger than life. 90% bullshit.
[43:55] But it entertains me a. 100% entertaining.
[43:58] Yeah, and Denzel was attracted to the role because it allowed
[44:01] him to subvert his usual good guy persona.
[44:04] He was able to explore and embrace all of the nuances of
[44:07] Alonso's pure malevolence. He said the bad guy has all of
[44:11] the fun. The bad guy is sexy.
[44:13] I agree there, Denzel. It's true enough.
[44:15] Beautiful. Hulk told this great story that
[44:18] happened on set one day. The N Double ACP, which is the
[44:21] National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,
[44:24] visited the second conference in Washington about playing a
[44:27] corrupt cop, thinking it was not a positive role model, right.
[44:30] Washington defended his artistic freedom, saying Al Pacino can
[44:33] play a bad guy. I can't play a bad guy.
[44:35] I'm an artist. He said that he wanted to be a
[44:37] role model by being great in my job rather than limiting himself
[44:41] to squeaky clean people. And the N double ACP promptly
[44:45] left the set tail between their legs.
[44:46] Lovely. Too true.
[44:48] Answered that as Alonzo didn't. He went full of Lonzo on them.
[44:51] I'm an. Artist, give me a fucking tuber,
[44:55] I'll get you something out of it.
[45:01] Fuquan Denzel worked together to reshape the script.
[45:03] Fuqua said that the character of Alonzo was originally written as
[45:06] a Puerto Rican detective, and Denzel said it wasn't written
[45:09] for a black guy. It was more like a play shirt
[45:11] wearing type of guy with beer bottles in the back.
[45:13] Yeah, Fuqua said that it would have been more at home in kind
[45:16] of like a Lethal Weapon film. Yeah, OK.
[45:19] And he rewrote him. And Denzel said that Fuqua
[45:22] brought the gangster to the character.
[45:23] Nice. Yeah, nice.
[45:25] Washington styled his appearance on Rafael Perez sporting a
[45:28] similar goal T to that of the disgraced LAPD officer from
[45:32] which the film's success was crucial.
[45:33] We'll be talking more about him later during the writing.
[45:36] Yeah, the license plate on the Monte Carlo that he drives reads
[45:39] ORP 967, which stands for Officer Rafael Perez, who was
[45:44] born in 1967. Oh, right, right.
[45:47] Nice little touch. Good touch, yeah.
[45:49] Improvisation was It was an important element in Denzel's
[45:52] approach. He did multiple takes of scenes
[45:55] playing Alonzo in various ways, up, down and everywhere in
[45:58] between, improvised, scraping his guns together as if sharpen
[46:02] and knives calling a pure rhythm.
[46:04] Acting is like music. You improvise and it's like
[46:07] jazz. There's no rhyme or reason to
[46:09] it. It's not a plan.
[46:10] I just. Did it?
[46:11] Yeah. It feels as though it's just
[46:13] natural to him. Yeah, absolutely.
[46:15] So theatrical performance. He's wonderful to end on
[46:18] Washington as Alonso. He's a quote from the big man
[46:20] himself, he said the bad guy can see anything.
[46:23] He's bad, he's mad. He's Alonso in training day.
[46:27] Nice. Yes, he is, yeah.
[46:31] Ethan Hawke plays Jay Coight, the Rugby Cup, who gets dragged
[46:34] through earlier by a monster of a man.
[46:36] Yeah, Matt, he's your guy. Yes, because I almost feel sorry
[46:40] for him. Because imagine if you're Ethan
[46:42] Hawke and you're reading this role on the page.
[46:44] You think, well, I'm the rookie cop.
[46:45] I'm the one who gets his eyes open now, the one who has the
[46:48] art. This is going to be amazing.
[46:49] And then Denzel Washington turns up and just gives that
[46:52] performance. Give us a chance.
[46:55] It's a break. Please, so bearing all that
[46:59] mine. I just think it's to Hawks
[47:01] immense credit that he does still stand out.
[47:03] When you come back this film, you realize obviously he's
[47:06] overshadowed by Alonso to a huge degree, but he has to be.
[47:09] It's not a case that Hawk is overshadowed as an actor.
[47:13] Jake is overshadowed as a character, and that's a
[47:15] different thing entirely. And I think Hawk has two things
[47:17] going for me. I think first of all, he's an
[47:19] actor that I always associate with roles in independent
[47:22] cinema. I mean, he has some some
[47:24] mainstream before this, but this is the guy from the Before
[47:27] trilogy and Reality Bites, yes. And every Richard Linklater film
[47:31] basically. So you don't automatically see
[47:34] him as a cop. So already he just brings that
[47:36] interest in contrast to the role because he's got a different
[47:39] field room as an actor. And I think the writing for the
[47:42] character really works because crucially, he's not written as a
[47:45] stupid or inept cop. I mean, yes, he's over his head,
[47:48] but who wouldn't be in this situation?
[47:50] And whenever he makes a choice that's the wrong choice, it
[47:53] doesn't feel dumb in that moment.
[47:55] It just feels like he's backed into a corner and he's got an
[47:58] impossible choice to make. And that's what he does.
[48:01] Like, I don't blame him for smoking the the PCP 1 little bit
[48:04] because also was so persuasive. And yes, so many scenes in this
[48:08] film work because Hawk is so good at showing the moral
[48:10] confusion that Jake has gone through.
[48:13] And there's no doubt in my mind that he is a great cop, he says
[48:15] in this untenable situation. And I think if a lesser actor
[48:19] didn't sell that particular point, the impact of Jake's
[48:22] character would be lost. And I think if you go back to
[48:24] that time, the early 2000s, I think this role could have gone
[48:27] to so many lesser actors who were bit vanilla, who were just
[48:30] swimming around at the time, you know, the likes of James Mars
[48:33] and Paul Walker, etcetera. But they didn't.
[48:35] Yeah, they've picked Hawk, and I think he does a much more
[48:38] impressive job than anyone else could have done with this.
[48:41] I think it's just such an underrated part of the success
[48:44] of the film. Oh, it is.
[48:46] I think it's a role that required absolute selflessness,
[48:49] just leaving his ego at the door because Denzel's the big dog.
[48:52] Yeah, He gets the big guns, the great outfits, the car, Eva
[48:55] Mendez, the cool dialogue, Everything.
[48:59] Everything. Yeah, he gets to dress in brown
[49:02] and beige and gets embarrassed for 105 minutes before he gets
[49:05] some redemption, and even then he gets beat to shit.
[49:07] Yeah, so I think credit to Hulk who brings the much needed wide
[49:11] eyed optimism to the role. He's totally wet behind the
[49:13] ears, clearly desperate to impress.
[49:15] He wants to make a good home for his young family, but to what
[49:17] cost? Is he willing to sell his salt
[49:19] to the devil to get what he wants?
[49:20] That moment in the car when he says I'll do anything you want
[49:22] me to, That line might as well have been followed by a massive
[49:25] siren. A huge red flag even after just
[49:29] a few minutes with this guy. But I buy that line because of
[49:32] Hawk. He's desperate for it, and once
[49:34] he said that Alonzo has him, he also has to allow Denzel the
[49:38] space he needs to fulfill the role of Alonzo, which is the
[49:41] space of an entire city. He's rolling all over town, and
[49:45] yet height is still a presence in this world.
[49:48] Very unselfish stuff from Hawk, who, not just in this film, is
[49:51] criminally underrated. Very.
[49:53] Not because of Denzel, Yeah. Yeah, and before Ethan Hawke was
[49:56] cast as Jake Height, there were a number of actors who tested
[49:59] for the part, including Tobey Maguire, Ryan Philippe, Freddie
[50:04] Prince Junior and Paul Walker. As Mike said there.
[50:07] Yeah, obviously. And rap sensation Eminem was
[50:10] also offered the part, but declined so we could focus on
[50:13] Eight Mile, which came out in 2002, instead.
[50:16] Yeah, yeah, fair enough. I mean, the film is disposable
[50:20] if Freddie Prince junior, Yeah. Yeah, actually it would have
[50:26] been good. She's good.
[50:27] And we're they're good. Yeah, like all of those names.
[50:29] Felipe would have been the best one, I think.
[50:31] Yeah, Prince. Junior is the worst.
[50:33] It's definitely worse. Yeah.
[50:34] Scooby-doo in the back. Yeah, Scooby, don't.
[50:38] Scooby-doo. And Fuqua selected Hawk after
[50:43] seeing him in Reality Bite, which I mentioned, and that's
[50:45] because he was drawn a hawk's natural innocence.
[50:47] But he also saw something deeper below the surface.
[50:50] And despite being a movie since he was 14, in 1985, Explorers
[50:54] Hawk still had to audition because the serial weren't
[50:57] convinced he was the right guy, despite Fuquon Washington
[51:00] backing them. Amazing.
[51:01] Oh, really? Right.
[51:02] OK, but during the audition, Washington went off script.
[51:05] Classy. Washington improvising and
[51:08] abandoned everything that was on the page.
[51:10] Hawk walked out in a rage, furious because he felt
[51:13] sabotaged by Washington's unscripted performance, and he
[51:16] contemplated walking away for good before getting a call
[51:19] saying that the part was his. Right.
[51:21] Nice. Wow.
[51:22] Perfect. That's a perfect audition.
[51:23] Yeah. It is boom.
[51:25] Sick of this guys fucking. Shit.
[51:28] Hawks research involved riding around with real undercover
[51:31] cops. One cop Hawk Rd. with was tipped
[51:33] off that a suspect had two kilos of cocaine under his sofa and
[51:37] once he got to the house he found the drugs but suspected
[51:40] that the guy who tipped him off had planted the coke based on
[51:43] the guy's shocked reaction. Obviously just trying to impress
[51:45] Hulk amazingly. Yeah.
[51:48] Cocaine in here, these sofas like off kilter like that.
[51:53] So the officer took the cocaine without reporting it, and he
[51:56] later sold half of it for information about another crime,
[52:00] and the investigation of that led to the discovery of a dead
[52:02] body and a conviction was obtained.
[52:04] In this short hawk, how grey the line was and how cops did break
[52:08] the law in the name of good. Right, OK.
[52:10] How? It's unthinkable, really, isn't
[52:12] it? It's ridiculous that actually
[52:13] happens. I know.
[52:14] All good long and my in Washington since seeing him in
[52:16] Cry Freedom in 1987 on set, he found his spontaneity in depth,
[52:21] mesmerizing in his words. But he also said he was a
[52:24] perfectionist. He said don't fuck with him,
[52:26] man. Don't come to the set with
[52:27] sloppy work in which he loved. He loved an actor or actress
[52:31] that sets the bar that high. But Can you imagine if you did
[52:33] come to set with sloppy work and Denzel just rain down on you?
[52:38] Wouldn't do twice, put it that. Way.
[52:39] No, no, I don't think you get the opportunity.
[52:41] I was probably not. Yeah, Remember them days in
[52:44] primary school where if your teacher was off and then the
[52:46] headmistress would take over, that's how it would.
[52:49] That's how it goes when you get a question wrong and you just
[52:51] like, Oh my God, yeah, that's how it would feel every day.
[52:56] So 2 great performances for very different reasons.
[52:58] The film of course has other memorable 1 and 2 scene
[53:00] performers, a lot of which we'll talk about as we go.
[53:03] But Training Day is nothing without Hawks understatement and
[53:06] Washington's roaring ego of a performance.
[53:09] Absolutely. Yeah.
[53:13] The middle. Struggling to pull himself
[53:18] together after getting 8 miles high on Angel Dust, Jake drinks
[53:22] a beer to level himself out before seeing an attack
[53:24] happening in a backstreet. His instincts kick in and he's
[53:27] got mad squabbles, Right, Matt? He has indeed, and this is what
[53:31] I mean by how important it is to write Jake as a very good cop
[53:35] anywhere. Because despite what he's been
[53:37] through so far, he's still got that moral sensibility know that
[53:39] helping this girl is the right thing to do.
[53:41] And it's instantaneous. Despite the fact he's
[53:44] outnumbered and God knows what these two guys could potentially
[53:47] be carrying, he just gets stuck into that fight with no
[53:49] hesitation. So we know he's brave, he's
[53:51] capable, and he can handle himself.
[53:54] And I think at this point you need that reassurance about this
[53:56] character that you can put him in a situation and he will rise
[53:59] to it. But then of course, Alonzo, I
[54:01] mean, that could to him just calmly lighten a cigarette and
[54:04] watch unfold instead of helping. You can tell he's watching this
[54:08] because he's getting the measure of Jake.
[54:10] He's learning how Jake can handle himself just like we are.
[54:14] This might be the only time we really see a scene from Alonzo's
[54:17] perspective instead of Jake's kind of thing that's switched
[54:20] between them and very subtly because he's not stood there
[54:23] watching a friend or a colleague in a fight.
[54:25] It's like he's watching a dog fight or boxing match because
[54:28] he's watching something where he's got a really selfish
[54:31] investment in who wins here and what information he can glean
[54:34] from it. Because it's going to tell him
[54:36] what he can get out of Jake or how much of a problem Jake might
[54:38] be later down the line. Which is why you get that
[54:41] reaction of him chuckling and then he's going and he's pulling
[54:44] his jacket up when he's about to end of the affair.
[54:46] And also he calls Jake that word, which we're definitely not
[54:49] going to say because so far this is the most useful.
[54:51] Jacob's been to him all day. It's like end the stage left,
[54:54] isn't he? You hit your queue, right?
[54:56] OK, go Alonzo's in. Yeah, and it's also a hindrance
[54:59] to him, this whole thing. Yeah, yeah, this, this piddly,
[55:04] piddly shit. Yeah, it's rubbish.
[55:07] Why am I getting involved? He goes really dark in this
[55:09] scene as well when he's threatened the guy with a knife,
[55:11] guns, punching him in the throat.
[55:14] I mean, the guy gets what he deserves, but a lot of goes way
[55:17] over the line. And then after this, more beers.
[55:21] More beers? Why not?
[55:22] Why not? Sure, I'll be a still no
[55:24] breakfast. No breakfast, no food, no food
[55:27] at all. So after that we'll get quite a
[55:29] nice back and forth. I think there's a lot of people
[55:32] justifying their actions in this and a lot of alarms will say and
[55:35] it's the right thing or the wrong thing.
[55:37] But this is where we're introduced to the sheep and the
[55:39] wolf. The duality of the two things.
[55:41] To protect the sheep, you need to kill the wolf.
[55:43] To kill the wolf, you must become the wolf.
[55:45] What are you prepared to do? That's his kind of outlook on
[55:48] everything. Jake wants justice, but Alonzo
[55:51] said that's not justice. There's St. justice and there's
[55:54] a difference between the two. It isn't just walking up with
[55:56] someone, sticking handcuffs on them.
[55:58] You've got to get dirty and you've got to get gritty with
[55:59] all of it. And then he starts questioning
[56:02] his motives and Jake's techniques and saying, like we
[56:04] said earlier, you know, you applied that chokehold that was
[56:06] illegal, but you did what you had to do.
[56:08] I was going to be asking, but you did what you had.
[56:11] Which taps into the theory. Is Alonso just doing what he has
[56:13] to do? Does he have to do this?
[56:15] Is he in a situation where you can't walk away from this?
[56:18] I think it's just genuinely affecting from him here because
[56:21] I think he actually opens up and he's honest.
[56:23] There's not a lot of snap back to this.
[56:25] There's that, well, you know, you did that wrong, but then
[56:27] explains why there's not a lot of bullying in this sequence.
[56:31] I think he starts to kind of warm to Jake a little bit and
[56:34] that's when he spins and goes hold on a second, I'm forgetting
[56:36] who I am. I'm a wolf again and then tries
[56:38] to turn Jake into the wolf by doing that wolf how, which I've
[56:41] said before is normally really cringey, but this is quite
[56:45] unsettling when this comes across and he just then starts
[56:48] to build Jake's confidence, get him on side, then says, you
[56:51] know, that was really good what you did there.
[56:53] That was really impressive. You can feel his confidence
[56:55] building like your dad giving you like a big up.
[56:58] It's like, you know, you did really well.
[56:59] Then you just think I'm absolutely invincible now
[57:01] because he knows he needs some money side.
[57:03] He knows what's coming up. He knows he's going to
[57:05] terrorism, knows he's going back to Rodgers.
[57:07] He knows he's going to meet with these three guys soon.
[57:09] He's knows he needs them on his side, so he's building them up.
[57:11] So is this actually genuine or is this part of the plan?
[57:15] Again, we don't know. It's so beautifully played out,
[57:18] so well done. And when he just says, you know,
[57:21] crime fighter, calls him a crime fighter if he's a superhero and
[57:24] just reinforces his confidence, again, it's just these really on
[57:29] the nose and really obvious performance marks from from
[57:32] Washington. But at the same time, they're
[57:34] just shrouded in mystery. You can't pin them down, and
[57:37] this scene is just a real example of that.
[57:39] Absolutely, yeah. And he's got him on side and
[57:41] then they go to that scene where they try and get some crack,
[57:44] $20. Yeah.
[57:46] From the boy Blue, played by Snoop Doggy Doug, of course, of
[57:50] course. Not surprised that Snoop has
[57:52] had, you know, a relatively successful movie career because
[57:55] he is great here. Yes, he's great.
[57:57] Yeah, he is. He's got the vulnerability of
[58:00] being in the wheelchair, which really works with the character.
[58:02] Great contrast to his natural charisma and persona, which
[58:06] Alonzo then takes full advantage of.
[58:09] Yes, he sets Jacob because he knows what he's going to get out
[58:12] of him. Alonzo has a basic 100% success
[58:16] rate of going from this place and getting exactly what he
[58:18] wants. To go to this place and getting
[58:19] exactly what he wants. It's very convenient and follows
[58:22] a thing that I mean I'm sure we all will be talking about later.
[58:27] Yes. But it's so damn entertaining
[58:29] that it's easy to let it slide in this scene.
[58:32] He knows that Blue is dirty. He's likely got a dozen eyes on
[58:35] every street corner feeding him this information.
[58:37] Yeah. All he needs to do is to get
[58:39] Blue to sing, and he goes about it in the traditional Alonzo
[58:43] outrageous manner, sticking a pen down his throat, making him
[58:46] throw his crack rocks. Jake is stunned by that.
[58:51] Yeah, as you would be, I think. Yeah.
[58:53] Horrible. And there's a great language
[58:55] references what's happening in culture at the time where they
[58:57] know the cracking down on this. He talks about the Rodney King
[59:00] stuff. So there's a lot of real world
[59:04] parallels. But this begs a question that I
[59:06] think is present in a lot of scenes in the film, something
[59:08] that you just touched on as well There, Westie, are the criminal
[59:11] circles that Alonzo operates in. Do they justify the the ends?
[59:15] If you weren't a dirty cop, would any work get done on the
[59:18] streets? As he said, it takes a wolf to
[59:20] catch a wolf. You've got to be a criminal to
[59:21] catch a criminal. Yeah, he says later.
[59:23] And you need dirt on yourself. Seriously.
[59:27] Exactly. And that's the conundrum and the
[59:29] moral conundrum that the film pauses in every scene, I think.
[59:32] And then we've talked about that we would do that.
[59:35] And then justifying his actions, Alonzo actually makes sense when
[59:39] he says these things. Yeah, it does.
[59:40] And that's reinforced all the way through.
[59:42] It's fantastic, it is reality of its unreal.
[59:45] So as Snoop was on set because of his fame, there were hundreds
[59:48] of fans screaming his name on the shot.
[59:50] This scene which almost completely disrupted production.
[59:53] In real life, Snoop was a member of the real LA gang, the Roland
[59:56] 20s. Crips 'cause he is keeping a
[59:58] gangster forever. Yeah, absolutely.
[1:00:00] A. Little bit.
[1:00:01] Smoke like 40 joints a day or something.
[1:00:03] He hires someone to roll for him, doesn't he?
[1:00:05] Does he really well? Yeah, he's how he hired surprise
[1:00:07] all these joints from Yeah. I'll do that, Snoop.
[1:00:10] I have no formal qualifications. I'll roll your joints.
[1:00:18] Snoop Dogg's joints. No, you couldn't do that.
[1:00:20] Making my Camberwell carrot course.
[1:00:23] I couldn't of. Course you couldn't.
[1:00:25] I'd be laughed out of town here. Imagine Snoop.
[1:00:29] I think there's an opening. Yeah, not for you.
[1:00:38] Somebody else, but this is a shout out.
[1:00:41] Snoop, if you're listening. Yeah, it.
[1:00:43] Must be involved. Don't try to get in there.
[1:00:46] Use a shout out for a job I definitely can't do Snoop.
[1:00:53] So Alonzo is under hand tactics of armed and with the
[1:00:55] information he needs to go after the big fish, and Jake is his
[1:00:59] unwitting accomplice. Things are about to take a big
[1:01:05] swing for Jake as Alonzo drags into the Sandman's house,
[1:01:08] outrageously flouting the law and abusing his authority yet
[1:01:12] again. And this is when shit starts to
[1:01:15] get real for Jake and for Alonzo.
[1:01:17] For the whole operation. Alonzo uses the menu that was
[1:01:21] left on his windshield when they left the diner, The Start as a
[1:01:23] warrant. That was great.
[1:01:28] Let's have a look. He says I'm the police, I can do
[1:01:30] what the fuck I want. Outrageous dialogue that lets
[1:01:33] you know everything about the character.
[1:01:36] You know where he's at. He's untouchable.
[1:01:38] He thinks he. Does think?
[1:01:39] And once that dog busts open, he burst into action.
[1:01:42] The Sandman's wife is on the floor.
[1:01:43] And then we see how good he is at his job.
[1:01:45] When he retrieves Dmitri from the bedroom, he's firm but
[1:01:49] sensitive and reassuring that he's the good guys.
[1:01:52] This is Alonzo using everything in his playbook to his advantage
[1:01:55] and you can see why Jake has been taken in by him and
[1:01:57] everyone else for that matter. Yeah, definitely.
[1:02:00] But not necessarily the same man's wife, No.
[1:02:03] Played by Macy Gray. She's fantastic.
[1:02:05] This is an outrageous performance.
[1:02:07] She's amazing. Yeah, she's a yeah, she is
[1:02:09] amazing, Yeah. She spots a weakness in Jake's
[1:02:12] armor and just Burrows in. She knows that something isn't
[1:02:15] quite right. Where the fuck's your backup?
[1:02:22] I want to say that Worried You got the gun don't you boy?
[1:02:25] Punk ass crooked ass cap. He's so good.
[1:02:29] This is great dialogue, great delivery.
[1:02:31] Yeah, and Jake's training kicks in as he tries to connect with
[1:02:35] Dmitry. He offers him up a fist pump and
[1:02:37] he got completely blanked. He does, yeah.
[1:02:41] Tries to walk away and he stumbles.
[1:02:47] Wow, very nice. Gray is amazing when she incites
[1:02:51] that gun battle screaming and Hollister and blast that fool.
[1:02:54] And Alonzo as handy with his guns as he promises with
[1:02:58] gangsters running for cover with his double gun play.
[1:03:00] I mean, it doesn't make too much sense because he's just causing
[1:03:03] all manner of unholy hell on the streets, but it's cinematic as
[1:03:09] hell as well. Yeah, 90%.
[1:03:12] Bullshit. There it is again.
[1:03:14] You can do this for every scene. It's amazing.
[1:03:16] As we've said, Macy Grier plays the Sun Man's wife, and this was
[1:03:19] her movie debut. Her international hit I Try It
[1:03:22] made her a big star and Fruit choir a portrait for the role.
[1:03:25] She said she thought he was crazy and she had no desire to
[1:03:28] become an actress, and she basically took the part just so
[1:03:31] she could get a picture of Denzel for her mother.
[1:03:33] Yeah, yeah, she said. That was her main motivation.
[1:03:36] Surely, being like a musician, she could have got in touch with
[1:03:40] Denzel and got a picture without the need to take a role that she
[1:03:44] didn't want. Yeah, he's probably heard I try
[1:03:47] by that point. I would imagine so.
[1:03:49] Yeah, so Gray researched the part by visiting similar
[1:03:52] neighborhoods depicted as in the film.
[1:03:54] She wore a wig and a gold tooth so people wouldn't recognise her
[1:03:57] a similar costume to the one she was hearing in the film.
[1:04:00] And Fuqua called the costume ghetto.
[1:04:02] Fabulous. Certainly is that it was long
[1:04:06] meals. It's so good.
[1:04:07] So after this the back of the car and it's another great back
[1:04:10] and forth between Alonzo and Jake and you know that mean from
[1:04:14] Godfather Part 3, Pacino and the red jumper.
[1:04:16] Just when I thought it was out, they pulled me back in.
[1:04:19] This is that saying I think for Jake and the audience because
[1:04:22] he's out of smoke drugs. He's seen the people Alonso
[1:04:25] associates with, he's seen Alonso let the two guys who
[1:04:28] assaulted the girl just go free and now he's just been through a
[1:04:31] gunfight on the open St. and the also thinks it's all hilarious.
[1:04:35] You think this has to be the point?
[1:04:36] Jake has to step back. Sorry, no, this is too much and
[1:04:39] he's really wavering. Mean talking about being seen in
[1:04:42] orange jumpsuit on the news. That's great.
[1:04:45] But like I say, it's that mean just when he thinks he's out,
[1:04:47] Alonso pulls them back in because I think by this point
[1:04:50] it's just out and out gaslight and by Alonso when they pull the
[1:04:54] car over and they have this conversation about the wolf of
[1:04:57] the sheep. You have to decide, I think.
[1:04:59] I mean, the dialogue is brilliant.
[1:05:01] That line about, you know, light and flares instead of doing this
[1:05:04] is so good because it's all belittle and about what that
[1:05:07] entails. But there's also telling Jake, I
[1:05:09] think you're better than that if you want it, if you don't give
[1:05:13] that guy a hand. And then you say the traffic,
[1:05:15] the traffic changing the tire. Like masterful manipulation by
[1:05:20] Alonso here, the way he takes all the bad shit that he's put
[1:05:23] Jake through already. And he kind of puts it on Jake
[1:05:25] instead, like, this is what you wanted to see, and if you can't
[1:05:29] take it, that's not my fault. Yeah, this is all on you.
[1:05:32] It's brilliant. It's that low angle he shot with
[1:05:34] as well. When he's underneath the bridge,
[1:05:35] it's like holding the bridge up himself.
[1:05:37] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So good.
[1:05:39] Yeah, it's perfectly placed the same because you're right, Matt.
[1:05:42] It's come at a point where naturally we're thinking, OK,
[1:05:45] this is too much now. Yeah, obviously he's taken 25,
[1:05:49] snapped. He right, I've had enough.
[1:05:51] But then it's very convincing what Alonzo says, Yeah.
[1:05:55] So following that, they both arrive in the neighborhood and
[1:05:58] along. Alonso's not particularly liked
[1:06:00] here. No, no fact he's hated.
[1:06:04] It's very, very on edge. This this whole scene.
[1:06:06] I think we've gone too far in the last scene that we've just
[1:06:09] spoke about there, Jake's gone a little bit too far.
[1:06:12] But these guys have definitely had enough of him.
[1:06:16] They've definitely gone too far. Whatever he's done in this
[1:06:18] neighborhood, he is completely pushed and pushed to the point
[1:06:21] where this is a break and point for him now and he's not being
[1:06:24] taken seriously whatsoever. And he's walking through and
[1:06:27] he's making snide comments, you know, all that Jelly and auto
[1:06:29] store, that kind of thing. You know, it's he's got these
[1:06:32] kind of ways about him and Jake's just following behind him
[1:06:35] knowing that nobody could touch him.
[1:06:36] But everyone's thinking, what the fuck's this guy doing here
[1:06:38] with this guy? What's going on now?
[1:06:41] It's just ridiculous. But it's the tracking shots here
[1:06:44] that really, really hit home for me.
[1:06:45] It's just excellent. There's that one that's just
[1:06:47] like a bird's eye view shot of them coming up the stairs.
[1:06:49] It doesn't need to be that good. It's almost, it's almost
[1:06:52] ignorable. And they're just coming up the
[1:06:54] stairwell and it just kind of tracks along with them to them
[1:06:57] coming up to the doorway. And then I got to Sarah's
[1:06:59] apartment and it's just wonderful.
[1:07:02] Just opens the door. Just, it's just, it's even
[1:07:04] Mendez. Even Mendez.
[1:07:06] It just makes that scene and the other guys even funnier.
[1:07:08] You know where Wahlberg? Then they come home and Will
[1:07:10] Ferrell and his wife and he's like, who is she?
[1:07:12] It takes my wife. No, no, who the fuck is she?
[1:07:16] Brilliant. So good.
[1:07:18] No, no, no, seriously. Seriously.
[1:07:21] Just almost crying. That's how I feel.
[1:07:24] What's going on here? Because she brings the food
[1:07:26] over, it's all authentic food, just like really homemade and
[1:07:30] lovingly made. He said it looks amazing, the
[1:07:32] kids there and the kids really well behaved.
[1:07:34] But again, it's like what's happening beneath the surface of
[1:07:37] this? Is he just there to have sex?
[1:07:40] Is he just there to drop something off, to pick something
[1:07:42] up? Is he planning something?
[1:07:43] Is there anything underlying that?
[1:07:45] All these plans take this long. Jake's falling asleep with the
[1:07:48] kid. Then I bother about the kid,
[1:07:50] then I bother about Jake. They know that.
[1:07:51] Well, the kid will get looked after.
[1:07:52] And prior to this, we'll get a scene where there's a shotgun
[1:07:55] being bolted to the bottom of the bed that he can spin around.
[1:07:58] Is he doing doing that now? He's.
[1:08:00] Setting up for something now in that apartment.
[1:08:03] Is he telling her, look, I'm going to get this money, then
[1:08:05] I'm going to get away? Yeah, this is what's going to
[1:08:06] happen step by step. Is this the promise that he's
[1:08:08] making another we're not invited to?
[1:08:10] Yeah, I think Fuqua does an amazing job of setting this
[1:08:13] neighborhood up looking like hell on earth.
[1:08:16] Yeah. Yeah.
[1:08:16] And the main reason, well, one of the main reasons is there's
[1:08:19] no exit. You have to go out the way you
[1:08:21] came in. And that.
[1:08:22] Yeah. So all along it's cul-de-sac.
[1:08:24] Yeah. That end St.
[1:08:26] Yeah. But at the same time though, if
[1:08:27] you lived there, what a place. Oh yeah, of course.
[1:08:30] Such a community spirit. It's just amazing that if you're
[1:08:32] there, that's so comfortable, but if you're not from there,
[1:08:35] you're just not welcome. Yeah, it's it's really well
[1:08:37] played out. Exactly, if you're an outsider
[1:08:40] to get about it. But because of that, I'm not
[1:08:43] necessarily by an Eva Mendes like Eva Mendez looking like
[1:08:48] the. Lawn in an apartment.
[1:08:49] Yeah, in the saucy negligee. Yeah, looking incredible after
[1:08:53] she's prepared so much food. What's there not to buy about
[1:08:56] that? Perfect.
[1:08:59] Yeah, yeah. Who do I make the check out do?
[1:09:05] So as we're talking about her Eva Mendez, she is Sarah
[1:09:08] Alonso's mistress and she was actually ready to quit acting
[1:09:11] before getting this part because in her word, she was feeling
[1:09:14] bored of doing terrible, cheesy, horrible films.
[1:09:17] So Charles should appeared in Children of the Corn, 5 Fields
[1:09:21] of Terror and Urban Legends Final Cut.
[1:09:24] But she said the working with Washington reignited her fire
[1:09:26] for acting not. What you would of course it.
[1:09:29] Was both them films any good? Lucas?
[1:09:30] Yeah. Well, Urban Legends final cuts.
[1:09:32] Amazing. Is it?
[1:09:33] Yeah, it's really good. All right.
[1:09:35] I didn't expect that. Production designer Naomi Show
[1:09:37] Hand said that certain interior scenes were required to be
[1:09:40] filmed on stage, like the scene in Sarah's house, for safety and
[1:09:45] sometimes for lighting purposes as well.
[1:09:46] But they were meticulously recreated.
[1:09:48] Her and her team, she said, became urban anthropologists,
[1:09:52] working with the residents to capture authentic environmental
[1:09:54] details. The continuity is great.
[1:09:56] You can't tell it to say you. Can't no so well done so with
[1:10:00] Alonzo and a family setting. It shows another side to the
[1:10:02] wolf who smells blood, but let's be honest, it's hardly the most
[1:10:06] stable examples of domestic places.
[1:10:09] No, it's very unstable if you ask me, The crew.
[1:10:18] We're talking names that we haven't discussed too much on
[1:10:20] the podcast for the crew on training day.
[1:10:23] The cinematography and music are coming up.
[1:10:25] But first is the writing by David A Matt.
[1:10:28] Your thoughts on the screenplay? I think the script really comes
[1:10:32] from and finds its centre from that one great idea of that
[1:10:36] contrast between Alonso and Jake.
[1:10:39] How far will Alonso go? How many of his arguments do
[1:10:42] make a bit of sense the way he puts them across?
[1:10:45] And will Jake be persuaded by them?
[1:10:47] And if he is, where's Jake gonna end up at the end of all this?
[1:10:50] And when all of that moral ambiguity is being played out,
[1:10:52] that's when the right and really sings for me.
[1:10:54] Because so many of those moments, you don't quite know
[1:10:56] what side to take. And that's all the point he was
[1:10:59] making. You know, Jake sees things as
[1:11:01] black and white, good and bad, and that's really laudable.
[1:11:04] But to survive from work in these suites, you've got to make
[1:11:06] a lot of tough decisions, which Alonso has done.
[1:11:08] And he's got the experience to say it isn't black and white.
[1:11:12] You've got to turn a blind eye to a lot of bad shit and you've
[1:11:14] got to do some things where you have to examine your own
[1:11:17] conscience out on the streets to survive.
[1:11:20] And that's really, really fascinating stuff and it works
[1:11:23] really well. But I think the problem here
[1:11:24] makes for himself is he's then got to intertwine all out with a
[1:11:27] narrative under plot. And that's when it's all to get
[1:11:30] a bit wobbly for me and a bit unstuck.
[1:11:32] We all know what we'll talk about it later, but Jake's
[1:11:35] survival and eventual victory over Alonzo hinges on a huge
[1:11:38] coincidence. And it's it's just not wonder
[1:11:41] overlook because it's so big. And then I'll talk about the
[1:11:44] resolution between the two characters a bit more when we
[1:11:46] get there as well. And overall, I feel like Alonso
[1:11:49] solution to his problem with the Russians, it feels very
[1:11:52] convoluted for what he essentially wants.
[1:11:55] Couldn't you have just come up with another solution with the
[1:11:58] crew that he trusts without taking Jake long for the ride?
[1:12:01] Welcome back to that. So I think the right ends up
[1:12:03] feeling a little caught between two things, what A really wants
[1:12:06] to talk about and write about with the aspects that he has to
[1:12:10] write about and resolve. And I think there's just a
[1:12:12] tension between those two things which I don't think gets
[1:12:15] resolved particularly well by the end.
[1:12:17] Yeah. Like the mechanics of writing,
[1:12:18] the mechanics of writing a film. Yeah.
[1:12:21] They're a bit rusty. The gays don't quite get going
[1:12:24] at the end, but when he's fully invested in those characters,
[1:12:27] the writing is absolutely things.
[1:12:29] Yeah, yeah, I agree. Yeah, I'm the same.
[1:12:31] I think it's the duality as well that we've been talking about
[1:12:33] that he brings to the characters.
[1:12:34] I think there's this light and dark with everybody.
[1:12:37] You can kind of find it there. There's the sheep and wolf
[1:12:40] argument. You know, that every character
[1:12:42] has that arc. Does Jake turn into the wolf at
[1:12:44] the end and start with the is the sheep?
[1:12:45] And then does Alonso start as a wolf and end up as the sheep,
[1:12:48] you know, in the middle of the pack again?
[1:12:50] Yeah, there are holes with this on the page.
[1:12:53] This might have come across as quite thin, especially for the
[1:12:56] characters. I think there's a lot of room
[1:12:58] here to say that this is what the character is, and then
[1:13:01] that's being embellished, especially by Denzel.
[1:13:04] I think he's brought a lot to this script that I think if this
[1:13:08] was just shot as a David Ayer film with, you know, Ryan Felipe
[1:13:12] in it and, you know, somebody else who isn't Denzel
[1:13:14] Washington, I think even, you know, there's Samuel L Jackson,
[1:13:17] Matt Damon connection. I think I don't think it would
[1:13:19] have been as powerful. Yeah, I think Matt's completely
[1:13:21] right when it comes to the plot and plot points.
[1:13:24] They just seem very, you know, not contrived, but just very
[1:13:28] convenient. I think in in places where it's
[1:13:31] kind of like a little bit of a ghetto clause.
[1:13:33] And if you haven't got these powerhouse performances, putting
[1:13:35] the mystery into them, I think the writing might have come
[1:13:38] across as quite thin on the page.
[1:13:39] But I mean, it is beautifully written and it is great.
[1:13:42] And it is it's refreshing because it's not cliched,
[1:13:45] really. In the writing.
[1:13:46] There is things that happen. You think, oh, this is quite
[1:13:47] new. It's a fresh take on it, but it
[1:13:50] does slip into them. Cliches.
[1:13:51] But it's just them. Cliches are masked over by the
[1:13:53] great performances. They are, yeah.
[1:13:55] And I'm not going to say anything too dissimilar.
[1:13:58] I love the world that we've got in Training Day.
[1:13:59] Just like the direction. It's authentic as hell.
[1:14:02] It feels lived in. It feels real.
[1:14:04] I'll always love a same day narrative.
[1:14:07] Yeah, so the. Foundations are there
[1:14:09] immediately for me, but what I want to talk about are the
[1:14:11] setups and the payouts in the film.
[1:14:13] It's almost like an old school video game, which has levels.
[1:14:17] Alonso's got to go from this person to get this thing, to
[1:14:20] steal this money which will be used for this warrant, to steal
[1:14:23] a bigger whore, to get him out of the Vegas situation with the
[1:14:26] Russians. And then he's completed the
[1:14:27] game. Yeah.
[1:14:28] Yeah. All the way along.
[1:14:30] Alonso's avoiding police protocol and preventing Jake
[1:14:32] from doing his job because he cannot deviate from that plan.
[1:14:36] Jake takes those two hobos in. That derails the plan.
[1:14:40] Those college kids get the cuffs backed on them.
[1:14:42] That derails the plan. Alonzo was likely tipped off by
[1:14:45] his informant that he would give those kids PCP and not the sweet
[1:14:48] Mary Jane that they likely paid for.
[1:14:51] He already knows that Jake would do anything he asks, so once he
[1:14:53] gets that Angel dust inside him, he's got him and he can't move.
[1:14:57] Now. If he squeals, Alonzo can just
[1:14:59] sit, get a drug test on him. He doesn't know what he's
[1:15:01] talking about. Yeah, who they're going to
[1:15:02] believe. His grip gets tighter with each
[1:15:05] outrageous situation that he puts them in.
[1:15:07] There's even those little details at the start where
[1:15:09] Alonzo tells him not to go to roll call.
[1:15:11] He knows he's only got 1 weapon. There's that scene after Roger
[1:15:14] gets blown away while Alonzo's on the phone.
[1:15:17] Says make sure the bathtub's clean.
[1:15:19] He's on the phone to Smiley. They're setting up Jake at the
[1:15:22] end. Great writing.
[1:15:23] So I love all of those beats, but, and this is something that
[1:15:27] we've talked about and we'll return back to, it's all very
[1:15:30] convenient. It is very convenient.
[1:15:32] Very nice that the Sandman was stashing 40,000, exactly the
[1:15:36] correct amount that he needed to get a warrant from the three
[1:15:38] dies. Man, perfect.
[1:15:41] There are other questions like how did Jake know that Alonzo
[1:15:44] would be at Sarah's before making the drop with the
[1:15:46] Russians at the end? That's a stretch.
[1:15:49] You're going there on a whim and going into the jungle, going
[1:15:52] into that neighborhood on a whim, and we'll get to the
[1:15:55] biggest convenience of them all later on.
[1:15:59] But in worst films, this would bother me greatly.
[1:16:02] But this is so tightly constructed, so excitingly
[1:16:04] written and shot bursting with dynamism and pizzazz.
[1:16:08] I can let these little contrivances go because we're on
[1:16:11] that journey. We're with these characters.
[1:16:14] We want to see how this turns out.
[1:16:16] And Alonzo, for all the heinous activity, we love the guy.
[1:16:20] We. Do.
[1:16:21] So we'll let it slide. Exactly.
[1:16:24] David A spent his formative years in earlier South Central
[1:16:27] neighborhood, so he was well versed in the ways of the
[1:16:29] streets, but there were streets he was desperate to break free
[1:16:32] from. He joined the Navy, and when he
[1:16:34] came back, he was an electrician.
[1:16:36] He was doing work on the House of screenwriter Wesley Strick,
[1:16:38] who wrote things like Arachnophobia, Cape Fear, Wolf
[1:16:42] and Stricks or something in this handyman.
[1:16:45] And he told him he's got stories to tell and talk to him to write
[1:16:47] in a film about his experiences at sea.
[1:16:50] Right. Oh really?
[1:16:51] It's like Das Boot. So as a result of that Airwort
[1:16:57] U571, the submarine based war film.
[1:17:00] Not Das Boot, yeah. Not Das Boot, sadly.
[1:17:03] I got it wrong, sorry. And then, after a few other
[1:17:06] unsuccessful screenplays, he decided to write about what he
[1:17:09] knew. So he was back living in LA on
[1:17:12] the periphery of Rampart in a gang riddled neighborhood near
[1:17:14] downtown. Yeah, Rampart is the notorious
[1:17:17] Police Department in downtown LA where it was found that there
[1:17:20] was widespread criminal activity in the division, particularly
[1:17:22] within the Crash and Yang units. That's right.
[1:17:26] Crash community resources against St. hoodlums, right.
[1:17:30] I think they came up with the word and then added the the
[1:17:33] words in between them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[1:17:34] No. One calls them hoodlums.
[1:17:37] No, it says hoodlums unless it's the 40s.
[1:17:41] Call it Crash, though, because that that's badass.
[1:17:45] And A was surviving on handouts given to him by an undisclosed
[1:17:48] movie producer after he'd wrote a script under the table for
[1:17:51] him. So the researchers knew work.
[1:17:52] He spent day after day cruising the hoods between downtown and
[1:17:55] Watts, searching for stories and, as he said, the soul of the
[1:17:59] hoods. Love it.
[1:18:00] He said that he would talk to the homies.
[1:18:02] This is a direct quote. This is my words OK.
[1:18:07] Clark Griswell. Said he would talk to the homies
[1:18:11] and hear stories about the ruthless extralegal tactics the
[1:18:15] LA he would use to take them off the streets.
[1:18:17] And he became fascinated by sophisticated cat and mouse
[1:18:20] games the cops and gangsters would play, and discovered that
[1:18:23] there was a corporate knowledge, spoken but never written, shared
[1:18:27] by the players on both sides of the law.
[1:18:30] And then based on this, he developed a story about a
[1:18:32] Rampart narcotics officer cruising the Pico Union
[1:18:35] neighborhood of LA in an old Monte Carlo car.
[1:18:37] Fantastic. Yeah, that's your premise.
[1:18:39] That's your start. Right.
[1:18:40] Yeah, there it is. Yeah, the central question at
[1:18:42] the heart of the story was, can a cop chase monsters without
[1:18:45] becoming a monster? So take an inspiration from
[1:18:49] Sidney Lumet's classic corrupt cop drama Serpico in Prince of
[1:18:52] the City. Ayer finished his script in
[1:18:54] 1995. It did the rounds to the studios
[1:18:56] in Hollywood. Some loved it, some hated it.
[1:18:58] And he actually received a note from one studio which said, good
[1:19:01] script, Dave. Problem is, you obviously know
[1:19:03] nothing about law enforcement. Then after after a few years,
[1:19:08] LAPD crash officer Rafael Perez was arrested for stealing
[1:19:11] cocaine in a police evidence room.
[1:19:13] There's only the floodgates to the whole police brutality
[1:19:16] rampart scandal. Suddenly, Ayer's story was hot
[1:19:18] because of its topical nature, and studio interest surged.
[1:19:22] Nothing like a dose of reality to reinforce some fiction.
[1:19:26] But it wasn't, I mean, it was based on reality.
[1:19:28] It was based on the stories of the streets, which would then
[1:19:31] inform the Rampart scandal. I really like the way that
[1:19:34] worked. And that's when Warners came in
[1:19:36] and paid for the script, right? Once Fuqua was signed on, he
[1:19:39] visited his house on a hot Saturday afternoon, where he and
[1:19:42] his buddies were drinking a few cold ones on his balcony.
[1:19:45] Nice. He said that his fear was that a
[1:19:47] Hollywood director would dilute the film, but he was impressed
[1:19:50] by Fuqua's sense of profound mission to direct the film.
[1:19:54] He said the streets are a mental game, and Antoine understood the
[1:19:56] nuance as well. When Fuqua left Aaron, his
[1:19:59] buddies high fived knowing that his baby was in good hands.
[1:20:04] So a piece of writing dripping with authenticity in no small
[1:20:07] part by David Aye's personal experiences.
[1:20:09] It may not be watertight, We've got a few issues, but it's damn
[1:20:12] exciting. It is very.
[1:20:14] Exciting. Next, we're talking about the
[1:20:18] music in the film, the all hip hop soundtrack sent as the film,
[1:20:21] and Mark Mancina provides the original score.
[1:20:24] I think this just reinforces everything that we've talked
[1:20:26] about already. Authenticity.
[1:20:28] That work keeps on coming up a lot.
[1:20:30] It does, yeah. But it's the centre to what
[1:20:32] makes the film work. Yeah, it's the grounded element.
[1:20:34] It is. Yeah, Yeah.
[1:20:35] The music anchors that film, it anchors it in downtown LA, it
[1:20:39] represents the threat of the streets, it gives such an
[1:20:41] atmosphere to the film. The hip hop songs pack so much
[1:20:43] menace and they really make sense in this environment as
[1:20:46] well. A well, a heightened feeling of
[1:20:48] sense. Yes, the soundtrack, the lives
[1:20:51] of the gang members and Alonzo, who's the biggest gangster of
[1:20:53] them all. And As for Man Seen the score,
[1:20:55] it doesn't really stick out as being larger than life.
[1:20:58] It can go quite easily under the radar, but it finds just a
[1:21:03] little space in the tapestry of the film, which is overshadowed
[1:21:06] by huge performances and bangers on the soundtrack.
[1:21:08] And it adds texture to those, it adds color and it adds vibrancy
[1:21:11] to all of the production elements.
[1:21:13] I think it enhances the street sounds, it elevates the tension
[1:21:16] and provides context whilst going almost completely unheard.
[1:21:21] Yeah. He's operating in very tight
[1:21:23] spaces and he creates something great without equal.
[1:21:26] He understands the brief. He knows that he can't compete
[1:21:29] with those hip hop. He can't compete with Doctor
[1:21:31] Dre. No.
[1:21:33] He can't compete with the production design, he can't
[1:21:36] compete with the setting, with Denzel's performance.
[1:21:39] He can do what he does to just enhance everything and I think
[1:21:42] he does that amazingly well. Yeah, I'm exactly the same.
[1:21:45] I feel like this the score of this film is just on in the
[1:21:47] backseat of that car. I didn't realize when I was
[1:21:50] doing the research. I think it really a score.
[1:21:52] I thought it was just all pop songs.
[1:21:53] Well, not pop songs. DNA.
[1:21:55] All right, Granddad. Bit of Backstreet Boys in there
[1:21:59] for you, Luke. Popular music is what I'm.
[1:22:02] Popular. Yeah, the rhythm and Blues
[1:22:04] tracks. Yeah, it just rumbles underneath
[1:22:10] somewhere. You know, when Denzel says
[1:22:12] Alonzo says at the start of the film, in a wind, the window
[1:22:14] down, you hear the streets and you would do hear the streets,
[1:22:17] but it's not like would thought it would be.
[1:22:20] I mean, no score would have worked in this film at all.
[1:22:22] No hand Zimmer, no account, you know, sweep and training day
[1:22:26] comes, that sun coming up and it's just wouldn't have
[1:22:29] happened. It just wouldn't have worked at
[1:22:31] all. You know, Alonzo didn't need a
[1:22:32] theme and I think the lack of the score in this film and just
[1:22:36] reinforcing it with, you know, the soundtrack, the needle
[1:22:38] drops, the hip hop songs that come across in it are fantastic
[1:22:41] because they're not cliched. No, they're not what you'd
[1:22:43] expect to hear in a soundtrack. But then when you're watching
[1:22:46] it, it's what you would expect to hear in that situation, in
[1:22:49] that environment. It really works for the
[1:22:51] environment to reinforce it. You said there, look, it is.
[1:22:54] It anchors that realism and anchors that setting that it's
[1:22:57] in. That really reinforces it.
[1:22:58] It is more or less like production design.
[1:23:00] It's just wallpaper. It's just there to wake you up
[1:23:03] to that and just say, yes, I am in this space.
[1:23:05] So I think what Mancina does is he understands that, but what it
[1:23:08] does really well is it just sets a tone.
[1:23:11] There's nothing trebly about this film.
[1:23:13] There's nothing upbeat melodically.
[1:23:15] There's no kind of like higher form of of strings or anything
[1:23:19] like that. It's just a rumble.
[1:23:20] It's just this constant for boarding, and I think he does
[1:23:22] that really, really well. Yeah, I mean, I have to be
[1:23:25] honest, when I was going through the script and saw the music
[1:23:27] section, my genuine first thing was his music and training day.
[1:23:33] I think you have to look really, really hard to find it.
[1:23:35] As for being saying they've made the choice to prioritize it,
[1:23:39] we're down the list and that's fine.
[1:23:40] But, you know, we've just come off the back of doing Last of
[1:23:43] the Mohicans on the last episode where you talk about that sound
[1:23:46] like for hours because it enriches the film.
[1:23:49] And this isn't this. It's snatches the songs in the
[1:23:51] background. It gives a flavor of the
[1:23:53] streets. But kind of that's about it.
[1:23:55] Really. The only one that really pops
[1:23:56] out of Still Drea when he first gets into there are because you
[1:23:59] need that because it's brilliant, because, yeah,
[1:24:01] because it's quite comical when you see that car go on and so
[1:24:04] put and still do it off the top. That really emphasizes that.
[1:24:07] But apart from that, yeah, you've got to really kind of dig
[1:24:10] in to pull out the music from this.
[1:24:12] Yeah, and even the start as well, when the kids have got the
[1:24:14] PCP and they pull them over, the first thing he does turn that
[1:24:16] off. Yeah, it turns the radio off and
[1:24:18] the soundtrack stops. Yeah, it's just about Denzel's
[1:24:20] dialogue. So I think it's just that's a
[1:24:22] little taster of like this is where we are.
[1:24:24] Yeah, that's how important it is.
[1:24:25] Yeah, and Mark Mancina took an unconventional approach to
[1:24:28] composing the music for the film, he said.
[1:24:31] I did something nobody was doing, an ambient score against
[1:24:34] a gritty picture. Instead of doing the predictable
[1:24:36] hip hop sound, I did something multicultural to reflect Los
[1:24:39] Angeles. I think that comes across, yeah.
[1:24:42] It does come across, you just really gotta listen.
[1:24:44] For you do. Yeah.
[1:24:44] You've really gotta listen for it.
[1:24:46] Yeah. Unlike another man seen the
[1:24:47] score that we talked about maybe a couple of years ago when we
[1:24:50] covered speed. Yeah, right.
[1:24:52] Yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[1:24:59] So Mancina's music also works in direct contrast to the all hip
[1:25:02] hop soundtrack selection curated by music supervisor John
[1:25:05] Houlihan to reflect the authentic environment and the
[1:25:08] sounds of the street. As we've discussed, artists
[1:25:11] include Cypress Hill, Gang Starr, Doctor Dre and Snoop
[1:25:14] Dogg, many of the songs being recorded specifically for the
[1:25:17] film. Yeah, I think it goes to what
[1:25:19] you were seeing, Wesley. It's not predictable, but it is
[1:25:22] predictable that these characters would listen to this
[1:25:24] music. And I think that comes from the
[1:25:25] fact that a lot of the songs were recorded at the time.
[1:25:28] It's not been not relying on a Public Enemy or AMC or something
[1:25:33] like that. Yes.
[1:25:34] Or N.W.A. Exactly, the songs don't really
[1:25:37] have a history at that time. Yeah, exactly.
[1:25:39] Yeah. And I think that's what makes it
[1:25:40] fresh and immediately. Of the time, yeah.
[1:25:42] And on that, we have our second Patreon question.
[1:25:45] This one comes from Uriah Young. Hi, Uriah.
[1:25:48] Hello, Uriah. Hello, Uriah.
[1:25:49] Uriah says hip hop artists have been switching over to acting
[1:25:52] roles for quite some time now. Snoop and Doctor Dre did OK with
[1:25:56] their parts in Training Day respectively.
[1:25:58] Who do you guys think is the Best Hip Hop artist?
[1:26:00] Third actor you guys said. I personally like most def who
[1:26:03] did a great job in movies. Something the Lord made the
[1:26:06] Italian Job in 16 blocks I like. 16 blocks. 16 blocks is good,
[1:26:10] yeah. He says.
[1:26:11] But what do you guys think, Matt?
[1:26:13] What do you think? Well.
[1:26:14] Firstly, I think Mosteff is a great child and I would say The
[1:26:17] Woodsman which is a Kevin Bacon film.
[1:26:19] Good film. It is good in this very serious
[1:26:21] film as well, and Mosteff absolutely rises to it.
[1:26:23] Yeah, it's really dark. Brace yourself.
[1:26:27] But it's well worth checking out.
[1:26:28] He's great. It's well worth checking out,
[1:26:29] yeah. If I had to pick someone else,
[1:26:31] that Ice cube, I think he's really good.
[1:26:33] In Three Kings he's great and he's so funny in the Jump Street
[1:26:37] movies, especially in the Second World when he finds out Jordy
[1:26:40] Hill slept with his daughter. That is hilarious, that bit.
[1:26:44] That's priceless. Yeah, Yeah.
[1:26:45] Great. So I'll I'll say Ice Cube.
[1:26:47] I think he has done some genuinely great work over the
[1:26:49] years. Boys in the Hood as well.
[1:26:50] Ice Cube, isn't he? So yeah.
[1:26:51] That's right. Yeah, that was his breakout.
[1:26:52] He's phenomenal. And that, yeah, absolutely makes
[1:26:55] it. You talk about authenticity.
[1:26:56] I think without Ice Cube and Boys in the Hood it wouldn't
[1:26:58] have that. Authenticity.
[1:26:59] I agree. Yeah, he makes it.
[1:27:00] He's amazing. I think I've always had a soft
[1:27:02] spot for Snoop. We talked about him.
[1:27:04] He's great in stars, which I think he's just overflowing with
[1:27:08] charisma and his natural rhythm translates to his physicality on
[1:27:12] screen. He's a bit stiff in this film,
[1:27:15] to be honest. His land delivery is wanting.
[1:27:18] Yes, yes, I think we've got some contenders here.
[1:27:20] I think Donald Glover needs a special mention for his TV show
[1:27:23] Atlanta. Oh, great show.
[1:27:24] Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, he's fantastic.
[1:27:26] Yeah. Ice Tea in New Jack City and
[1:27:28] Ricochet with Denzel as well, but I'm going to go with LL Cool
[1:27:33] J Ladies love Cool J. Nice.
[1:27:35] Yeah, and outrageous Monica, to give yourself.
[1:27:38] It is. Yeah, you.
[1:27:39] Go for deep blue sea. But when you look at his
[1:27:42] performance in the hard way. Oh, OK, yeah.
[1:27:45] That's another incredible New York film.
[1:27:47] Personal favorite of mine. Great film.
[1:27:49] And although LL is a supporting character, he's really
[1:27:52] memorable. He's got some very funny lines.
[1:27:54] But Wesley, I do like him in Deep Blue Sea.
[1:27:56] I had him in Any Given Sunday as well.
[1:27:58] Great. And any given Sunday.
[1:28:00] What about you, Wesley? We've mentioned him #4 as well.
[1:28:02] But I do think Eminem is fantastic in Eight Mile.
[1:28:05] It's. Incredible.
[1:28:06] Another one I really liked as well, which is it's kind of
[1:28:08] flown and I loved Common in John Wick chapter 2.
[1:28:11] OK. Of course, yeah.
[1:28:13] Really, really good at that. Great.
[1:28:15] Yeah, definitely them too for me.
[1:28:16] Yeah, yeah, brilliant. Thank you for the great
[1:28:19] question, Uriah. Thanks, man.
[1:28:22] And that brings our conversation on the music to close a unique
[1:28:26] blend of score and the sounds of the street, bringing the
[1:28:28] training the world to vibrant life.
[1:28:33] Finally, a cinematographer we haven't talked about before,
[1:28:35] Moral Fioria, who kicked off a career long collaboration with
[1:28:39] Anton Fuqua on training day. Westie, over to you.
[1:28:42] Cinematography. What I really love about the
[1:28:44] cinematography is that it's just so silky, it's so smooth.
[1:28:48] It's just really pulls you into the store.
[1:28:50] It's got a real flow to it, much like the directions got a flow
[1:28:54] to it. I think he knows the shots that
[1:28:56] he needs to set up, but the frames that he's holding and the
[1:28:58] use of depth of field especially doesn't overuse that.
[1:29:02] Doesn't really push that to focus just on the Lonzo a lot of
[1:29:05] the time, but the close-ups that he gets are absolutely
[1:29:07] fantastic. Now this film for me screams
[1:29:10] handheld camera. It just screams running down the
[1:29:13] especially when that the girl's getting attacked right.
[1:29:15] He's running down the alley handheld camera and it's going
[1:29:17] to have a real documentary field ad it doesn't it has a real
[1:29:20] cinematic feel to it. It has a very wide feel to it
[1:29:23] has a very considered and really polished feel to the
[1:29:25] cinematography, which again shouldn't work because that
[1:29:29] shouldn't necessarily reinforce authenticity because people go
[1:29:33] the opening of Omaha Beach on day.
[1:29:35] There needs to be handheld authenticity of what it was
[1:29:37] really like to be there and everybody puts that kind of
[1:29:40] dangerous, dark, fast-paced, really unprepared location and
[1:29:45] you don't know where you are. Well, that must be handheld.
[1:29:47] He just doesn't do that. You really just keeps everything
[1:29:50] smooth. Everything's considered,
[1:29:52] everything's focused, which again adds to this extra depth
[1:29:54] to the mystery of the film, which really, really works.
[1:29:58] The light is not over the top. You don't think it's lit, but he
[1:30:00] does it so well that you can move between streets and then at
[1:30:03] the sets and you don't question anything.
[1:30:05] Some of the best photographers you do not see do not have a
[1:30:08] style and you can't see it. You can't necessarily see when
[1:30:11] the camera moves here. It just moves and you move with
[1:30:14] it and just them stylistic choices.
[1:30:17] Imagine it's just a handshake between him and Fukua.
[1:30:19] To be honest. We're going to put one up here
[1:30:20] and it's going to be a real kind of surveillance style shot.
[1:30:23] But it's still beautifully shot, beautifully lit.
[1:30:25] Like we say that diners in so many films, but this is one of
[1:30:29] the most recognizable. It is, yeah.
[1:30:30] The cinematography of this film is just Alonzo's character.
[1:30:34] Yeah, it's quite dark. It's quite silky.
[1:30:36] It's very considered, and it's very mysterious.
[1:30:39] It's really, really beautiful work because you just don't see
[1:30:41] it. Yeah, I agree.
[1:30:42] Yeah, I mean, I think the film in general does feel like a team
[1:30:45] effort from everyone, even that huge Denzel performance.
[1:30:49] It's the size of the film needs. And I think everyone is
[1:30:52] contributing towards the film, but at the same time, they're
[1:30:54] not making themselves the stars of the show because it's not
[1:30:57] about them. And I think that's to the
[1:30:58] cinematography here, because is this going to be in anybody's
[1:31:02] list of the top 10 greatest looking films of all time?
[1:31:04] I'd be surprised if it was. It doesn't do for the crime
[1:31:07] genre what The Godfather did, for example.
[1:31:10] But that's fine because what it does, it just works and works
[1:31:13] really well. I think when the film needs to
[1:31:15] be big and cinematic, you get those panoramic shots of the
[1:31:18] city of the motorways, which looked fantastic.
[1:31:21] When it needs to be more intimate and you're up close and
[1:31:24] personal with that conflict between Jake and Lonzo, it does
[1:31:27] out really well as we've all been seeing the use of close-ups
[1:31:29] and this is excellent in the way it holds them as well.
[1:31:32] When it needs to be more jagged for an action scene, it does
[1:31:35] that really well. And then if you need something
[1:31:37] really striking, it just does it every swapped in, which makes it
[1:31:40] stand out by like that single band of light across Alonzo's
[1:31:43] eyes when the right fundament, he's closed the blinds.
[1:31:47] Very stylish but not overdone and you don't have one of those
[1:31:50] moments like every 5 minutes where it becomes distracted.
[1:31:53] It stands. Only isn't it?
[1:31:54] Yeah, exactly. It stands up because it's
[1:31:56] sparing. So I say it's one of those where
[1:31:58] I can't see you being called as one of the best of its kind, but
[1:32:00] it does the job it needs to do and it does a really, really
[1:32:02] well. Yeah, solid professional job.
[1:32:04] Yeah. Yeah, I think same as the music,
[1:32:06] it just goes hand in hand with everything that production is
[1:32:08] trying to achieve. Like you said, my team effort,
[1:32:11] everything pulling in the same direction to bring it to the
[1:32:13] screen. What's most impressive are the
[1:32:15] car scenes for me. For a fast-paced, tense
[1:32:17] thriller, you wouldn't expect about 1/4 of the runtime to be
[1:32:20] spent in a car. And once you've seen this, you
[1:32:23] wouldn't be able to guess it's that long either, would you?
[1:32:25] I. Wouldn't have said that now.
[1:32:27] And a lot of that, I think, is down to Fioria.
[1:32:29] He creates this claustrophobic space inside where Alonzo was
[1:32:32] able to just smother Jake and make him do what anything he
[1:32:35] wants. There's no hiding place, no room
[1:32:37] to maneuver. It's the same sense of isolation
[1:32:40] and claustrophobia that he brings to that card game at the
[1:32:42] end. You can see in the sense of
[1:32:44] panic and Jake because he's got no room to breathe.
[1:32:47] Yeah. But then the shots of the car on
[1:32:49] the roof, on the front bumper, they are just super cool,
[1:32:53] reflecting the character of Alonso, entrenching you in this
[1:32:56] world and in this city. The swagger of the streets and
[1:32:59] just how PIMP that Monte Carlo really is.
[1:33:03] Yeah. Yeah.
[1:33:04] It really brings that to life as a character.
[1:33:08] And this was the first of multiple collaborations between
[1:33:10] Fuqua and Mauro Fiore, who avoided shadowy cinematography,
[1:33:15] instead shot the majority of the film in broad, desaturated
[1:33:18] daylight. And this was to add
[1:33:20] authenticity. And this approach reinforced the
[1:33:22] harsh reality of police corruption rather than
[1:33:25] romanticizing it with stylized shadows.
[1:33:27] Great, everything out in the open for everyone to see.
[1:33:30] And he also used anyone gets the lenses.
[1:33:32] No, it's fine. I'll tell you.
[1:33:33] He used to hope C series anamorphics, which featured A2
[1:33:38] times, anamorphic squeeze and medium contrast.
[1:33:41] So they were chosen for their slightly forgiven optical
[1:33:43] design, which produced sharp but natural imagery.
[1:33:46] So the rendered beautiful skin tones were resistant flares with
[1:33:49] anamorphic elements positioned in the lens Center for smoother
[1:33:53] point flares. So what that means is it doesn't
[1:33:55] kind of accentuate the light, and as it comes in, it keeps
[1:33:58] everything very natural and very basic.
[1:34:00] Torn anamorphic lenses usually really really flare out OK, but
[1:34:04] these ones don't. Yeah, he put the camera on the
[1:34:06] hood of the car. Like I said, he captured the
[1:34:08] city reflections in water droplets on the windshield as
[1:34:11] well emphasized the car is basically like a mobile office
[1:34:15] where all of the drama unfolds. Nice.
[1:34:18] So some unfamiliar names in the crew maybe, but they all
[1:34:20] contributed to the film's atmosphere.
[1:34:22] Torn and enduring appeal. A special shout out to Naomi
[1:34:25] Shorhan and Michelle Michelle for the incredible production
[1:34:28] and costume design respectively as well.
[1:34:31] Very nice. Yeah, the end.
[1:34:38] Alonzo's master plan is beginning to come together, but
[1:34:41] first he has to get the OK from his superiors before he can go
[1:34:44] through with it. And this is the three wise men
[1:34:47] scene where Alonzo goes into a restaurant with no people in
[1:34:51] whatsoever apart from three high rank and law enforcement
[1:34:54] officials. The DA, the captain of the
[1:34:57] force, and the big dog detective.
[1:34:59] He's the one who's done the disgusting story about the guy
[1:35:01] using peanut butter in a very creative way.
[1:35:03] Yeah, and horrific story. I think we can believe this
[1:35:08] meeting is prearranged, so not too much of A narrative stretch.
[1:35:11] Yeah, I thought so, yeah. And this is an exposition scene,
[1:35:14] a connector to allow the plot to progress.
[1:35:17] Nothing really sexy about it on the page, but I think it's
[1:35:20] brought to life by a great location.
[1:35:22] All great decisions have been made around the dinner table in
[1:35:24] civilized circumstances. I really like the juxtaposition
[1:35:27] of that. And it's brought to life by
[1:35:29] great character actors. Yeah.
[1:35:31] And Tom Barringer being one of them.
[1:35:32] Yes. Alonso is basically going in
[1:35:34] here, cap in hand, so he's quite meek.
[1:35:37] If they don't give him the OK, then he is done for, but yet
[1:35:41] he's going in with all the ego and aggression.
[1:35:44] He's not letting any of that go. It's amazing.
[1:35:47] We're given a bit more information about what went down
[1:35:49] in Vegas and Alonzo needs to make amends.
[1:35:51] But what I really like that even though it's an exposition scene,
[1:35:54] you're not spoon fed all of the information.
[1:35:57] I think you need at least one rewatch to understand that this
[1:36:00] is a payoff for a warrant for Rogers Place.
[1:36:04] Alonso says. Who's driving.
[1:36:06] That's not clear what that means.
[1:36:08] It means who am I paying the 40 grand to for the warrant?
[1:36:11] But this links the scene with the Sandman's wife to going back
[1:36:14] to Rogers. Very good writing and memorable
[1:36:17] performances for a scene that could have been easily snipped
[1:36:21] out. Yeah.
[1:36:21] Well, Studio XX actually did want to cut the scene because
[1:36:24] the felt it slowed the film down, but Fuqua argued that it
[1:36:27] was pivotal because it established that at least some
[1:36:30] of Alonso's illegal crimes have been sanctioned by superiors.
[1:36:33] Yeah, makes sense. He also insisted that it
[1:36:35] provided a bit of breathing room in the film and highlighted that
[1:36:38] corruption was institutional within the LAPD and knocked down
[1:36:42] to 1 dirty cop. That came out with the Rampart
[1:36:45] scandal as well, that it was rife throughout the entire force
[1:36:48] as opposed to just one rolled cop.
[1:36:50] Yeah, exactly. And then from this, we get the
[1:36:52] culmination of the Rogers storyline in this scene of so
[1:36:55] much attention to it, because we've seen Alonso just pushing
[1:36:58] Jake Frog, do this, do this, do this.
[1:37:00] It's always been really compelling.
[1:37:02] Like, we buy the argument, but then you get them over.
[1:37:04] Really crosses line where he tells Jake to shoot Roger.
[1:37:07] And it's played so brilliantly between the three of them
[1:37:10] because Jake thinks he's clearly not serious, but Alonso just
[1:37:14] doesn't back down and he's grinning throughout and Roger
[1:37:16] thinks it's hilarious. So from Jake's perspective,
[1:37:19] well, this must be a joke. They obviously do this all the
[1:37:21] time to the new guy. And then as we said, that visual
[1:37:23] of the blind being closed and just a band of light across
[1:37:27] Alonso's eyes and you see, like not even metaphorically, he's
[1:37:31] physically refusing to blink here.
[1:37:33] Like he just won't do it. He's there's that absolute stare
[1:37:37] boring into Jake Saw. So Jake pretended like it's a
[1:37:39] kids game and he can laugh it off, but then Alonso doesn't
[1:37:42] laugh and repeat it. So you're with Jake at this
[1:37:45] point. You think you don't know what
[1:37:46] the hell is going on. And it's tension and it's
[1:37:49] tension. And then it breaks when Alonso
[1:37:51] does laugh and Roger joins in and he goes, ah, rookies, and
[1:37:55] then bomb that clause of Alonzo as he just turns.
[1:37:58] And then it's a belly full of lead for Roger.
[1:38:00] So it's an incredibly shocking moment.
[1:38:02] The tension is brilliantly played out.
[1:38:04] But it is one of those moments that it's only until a few
[1:38:06] viewings later that you sort of question the logic of this
[1:38:09] because this is where Alonso starts to spill about.
[1:38:12] This was the plan all along. You know, he's been planning
[1:38:14] this all week. But thing is, Roger's about
[1:38:17] hombre. He will have many, many enemies,
[1:38:19] surely. And there must be a need and
[1:38:22] quite a way to get him out of the picture here that doesn't
[1:38:24] involve dragging someone new into the team and hoping you'll
[1:38:28] get exactly what you want out of them.
[1:38:29] Yeah, like I said about the right, And it does get overly
[1:38:32] convoluted in justifying Jake being there for the whole time.
[1:38:35] And I think this is the one where you go hang on a minute,
[1:38:38] this ludus lead over the top by lons or to do this one simple
[1:38:42] thing. Yeah, but you know.
[1:38:43] The tension of the moment really sells it.
[1:38:45] Falls by the wayside a little bit because if one thing goes
[1:38:48] wrong then the whole plan is out of whack.
[1:38:51] Yeah, yes, yeah. But he makes a convincing case,
[1:38:54] doesn't he, Westie? He does make a convincing case
[1:38:57] because you think that this is him completely unhinged and him
[1:39:01] completely gone against what is morally correct, but it then
[1:39:05] reinfirms it and makes it morally correct.
[1:39:07] And I don't quite know how he wrestles with this and does it
[1:39:10] so well. It's a really genuine moment.
[1:39:13] I've mentioned this earlier on and he feels quite out of place
[1:39:16] for his character. It's kind of licking his wounds
[1:39:18] almost at this point, tails between his legs.
[1:39:20] Like I thought Jake would be at a different position than he is
[1:39:23] now. I thought he'd be up for this
[1:39:25] and taking the money. I thought I would have got more
[1:39:27] of his trust by now. Shit, I need to go back and I
[1:39:30] need to get them with this dad love almost, you know, there's a
[1:39:33] real soft talk here to get his trust back.
[1:39:35] And the way he spins it, he's like he calls him son, says this
[1:39:39] is the game. This shit's chested in check as
[1:39:42] you've got to go places. And it's great, great line.
[1:39:45] But it's just the way he spits it out as if, why don't you
[1:39:47] realize this yet? Just this justification of it.
[1:39:50] And then he talks about Roger and he's like he says he's your
[1:39:53] friend. He's not your friend.
[1:39:53] He's a High Roller. He's one of the worst people and
[1:39:56] it just needs to justify his actions constantly.
[1:39:59] Then he starts talking about himself and how Jake could
[1:40:02] actually be him, could look up to him, could aspire to be as
[1:40:05] good as he is. And he says, I walk on a higher
[1:40:07] path. I walk in a higher plane, son.
[1:40:09] And he says it again. You know, you want my job.
[1:40:11] You've got it. You can be where I am if you
[1:40:14] just believe what I want. And now he's offering him
[1:40:16] everything he wants. You know Jake right at the start
[1:40:19] of the film, right at the top, we never mentioned this, but he
[1:40:21] says you should see them guys houses.
[1:40:23] So it's all about financial security.
[1:40:24] Really. It is, but he's not taking the
[1:40:26] bait. And this is where Alonso is just
[1:40:29] pushing him slightly, slightly, slightly more and just changing
[1:40:33] it a little bit. But again, this is a massive
[1:40:35] giveaway here. And he says if you want to
[1:40:36] change it, you've got to change it from the inside.
[1:40:38] If you want to be taken seriously, you need to be dirty.
[1:40:40] Is that not what he's doing? They're meeting with these three
[1:40:43] wise men, is that not? Is he not trying to frame them
[1:40:45] doing this? Is that not what he's saying
[1:40:48] here? This is why he's so genuine.
[1:40:50] Is this actually the character of Alonzo that was seen
[1:40:52] throughout the whole film? I think this is genuinely him
[1:40:55] sitting in the car going, look, I've had to do all this because
[1:40:58] this is fucked and you're in the middle of this and you can
[1:41:00] really help us take care of this.
[1:41:02] But I'm done now and I've got to get out of here and I need this
[1:41:04] money to do it. You've seen everything, I've
[1:41:06] showed you everything. Take that and run with it
[1:41:08] because you're a good cop and I trust you.
[1:41:10] But you can get that from this scene, or you can get he's full
[1:41:12] of shit and he just wants money. So it's so well played.
[1:41:15] It is so. Well played out it.
[1:41:17] Is really well constructed. Yeah, if you look at it from
[1:41:19] that point of view and really watch the film, this is so out
[1:41:22] of place for Alonzo. But is it?
[1:41:27] It's so good. So Alonzo has made a convincing
[1:41:30] case for Jake and has once again got him back on side.
[1:41:34] But this time there are bound to be even more dramatic
[1:41:36] consequences. A crescendo of 1/3 act with
[1:41:42] three huge scenes, starting with a visit to a different kind of
[1:41:47] neighborhood. So here Alonzo drags Jake to
[1:41:50] this place where he's doing a favour for an old friend,
[1:41:52] dropping off a blender and the CD player.
[1:41:54] Nice combo. Yeah, some favour.
[1:41:57] And to establish how volatile the situation is, Food Quad
[1:42:00] double s down on what he's done in the past.
[1:42:02] He stuffs the situation with loads of surly guys bearing down
[1:42:06] on Jake. No dialogue, just staring at him
[1:42:08] with absolute menace. I mean, a little bit
[1:42:11] heavy-handed, but at least we get the picture.
[1:42:13] Yeah. And it's visually different to
[1:42:15] when he first goes into the jungle, the dead end street
[1:42:17] where Sarah lives. The threat ramps up inside and
[1:42:20] then goes up further still in the kitchen.
[1:42:24] A great control of tension from Fuqua.
[1:42:26] Who knows that this scene needs to land.
[1:42:28] Absolutely. Considering what's coming up.
[1:42:30] Yeah. Yeah.
[1:42:31] And Oh my, it lands. It does right in your face.
[1:42:35] Oh, right, the scene always gives me a sickness in the pit
[1:42:41] of my stomach. Smiley, Sniper, and Marine, all
[1:42:44] these three guys had not to be trifled with.
[1:42:46] No, Oh no, no, no, no, no. And they all have different
[1:42:49] character rates. I mean, they're in one scene and
[1:42:51] they're so memorable. Smiley is the Quiet 1, Marine is
[1:42:54] the joke. You want Sniper?
[1:42:56] Well he's just as crazy as a shit house rat.
[1:43:02] And Raymond Cruz, who later appeared on the TV show Breaking
[1:43:04] Bad. He was originally cast to play
[1:43:06] gangster Smiley, but ended up playing out of control sniper
[1:43:09] instead. And this scene was originally
[1:43:11] scripted at 15 pages, but it was trimmed away down.
[1:43:15] Right. I mean, it makes sense to
[1:43:16] tighten it up for the tension, yeah, because it just would have
[1:43:19] went out of control. 15 minutes in. 15 minutes, yeah.
[1:43:23] That's just on the page as well. Yeah, exactly 20 minutes.
[1:43:26] Yeah, Cruz claims that his scene is the best scene in the movie.
[1:43:31] Well, he would do. Yeah, yeah, no, I got 2 pairs.
[1:43:35] That's a fucking good argument if I'm honest.
[1:43:38] Cliff Curtis ended up playing Smiley and Noel Gugli.
[1:43:40] Amo plays Marino, the final of the three thugs in this scene.
[1:43:45] Googly Amo was a homeless as a team and in a gang before he
[1:43:49] found acting late in the 90s. Check out his filmography.
[1:43:52] He's working as if he'll never get another job in his life.
[1:43:55] He does about 8 films a year and he has done for about two
[1:43:57] decades. Yeah, yeah.
[1:43:59] Amazing. During this card game scene,
[1:44:01] Fuqua told the actors to ad Lib their lines and actions without
[1:44:04] Hawk's knowledge to create an unexpected atmosphere and real
[1:44:07] tension. It made Jake's uneasy attitude
[1:44:09] more genuine, as Hawk didn't know what we're going to see or
[1:44:14] do next. That must have been awful.
[1:44:15] It really works though. Oh.
[1:44:17] Really works. You can see Hawks squirming in
[1:44:19] his seat, trying to stay cool playing cards, but underneath
[1:44:23] he's thinking more fucking hell, how am I going to get out of
[1:44:25] this situation? Yeah, yeah.
[1:44:27] I've seen that gun, but I want to see yours and you know what's
[1:44:31] coming. But he can't put up a fight
[1:44:33] because something will come quicker.
[1:44:35] Yeah, if he does put up a fight then she's going to take it off
[1:44:37] and he's just going to overpower him anyway.
[1:44:39] And he thinks Alonso is still there as well.
[1:44:40] Exactly. Yeah, at that point.
[1:44:42] So he's like, well, that's fine, I've got backup.
[1:44:44] Exactly the backup of that, even though, I mean, he should know
[1:44:47] by now, but it's sickening, this interplay and messing around
[1:44:51] with the gun, the reveal that the car's gone.
[1:44:54] Alonso's pissed off. Jake is doomed.
[1:44:56] Yeah, Yeah. I often wonder why Smiley would
[1:44:58] provide all this exposition to Jake about the Russians again,
[1:45:02] heavy-handed. If he's going to kill him, why
[1:45:03] are we telling him? Yeah, it's really, it's really
[1:45:06] Bond film, isn't. It.
[1:45:07] Yeah, but that's nothing compared to what's coming in the
[1:45:09] bathroom. Jake tries to punch his way out
[1:45:11] of the situation, but he's done for.
[1:45:15] In the bathtub. Being dragged through the
[1:45:18] apartment. That camera shot?
[1:45:20] Brilliant. Being dragged to your doom.
[1:45:23] It's sickening. In the bathtub, Curtains closed.
[1:45:26] He's going to get blown away. Oh, hang on.
[1:45:29] Let's get his money first. There wasn't hundreds of
[1:45:32] thousands in the blender. That's not enough.
[1:45:34] We need $20 from his wallet as well.
[1:45:36] While he's still alive. While he's still alive, I hang
[1:45:39] on with this. A pink glitter purse.
[1:45:41] What the fuck? I mean, this is a tough pill to
[1:45:46] swallow. We've talked about it.
[1:45:48] It's there because the plot needs it to be.
[1:45:50] It's set up earlier in the film. Fair enough.
[1:45:52] But this just isn't happening. The thing that allowed for this
[1:45:56] to happen is the performance, the set up in the kitchen and
[1:46:00] Fuqua's handling, the tension and tone.
[1:46:02] It doesn't fall apart when it absolutely should.
[1:46:04] I mean, I'm not entertaining anything away for it.
[1:46:07] It's one of my favorites. They certainly the scene in the
[1:46:09] kitchens. Probably my favorite scene in
[1:46:10] the in the film. Right.
[1:46:12] I mean, it's such a coincidence, isn't it?
[1:46:14] It's very. Much of all the girls he saved
[1:46:16] on that day. It's Smiley's niece.
[1:46:19] Yes. Yeah.
[1:46:20] And he took a purse. Yeah, I do like that phone call
[1:46:23] between Smiley and the niece though.
[1:46:24] Like. This reactor and rescues it
[1:46:26] because they're both good. He does?
[1:46:27] Yeah. Curtis exactly does, Yeah.
[1:46:29] But I do think he does press her a little bit too much though.
[1:46:32] Yeah. Did you go to school?
[1:46:33] Yeah. Yeah.
[1:46:33] Yeah. Did you say anything?
[1:46:34] Yeah. No.
[1:46:35] Ask. Did every class you see the
[1:46:36] police? No.
[1:46:37] OK, OK. Bye.
[1:46:39] Yeah. Yeah, you know how you try and
[1:46:42] just make sense of something and make it make sense just to
[1:46:44] defend it? Because the rest of film is so
[1:46:46] good and this is such a plot hole.
[1:46:48] I've made it my own personal mission to make this fine for
[1:46:53] myself. Great.
[1:46:54] Have you got an answer I? Have, but I mean it's quite
[1:46:57] thin, OK, You know what he says on the phone that we've we've
[1:47:00] said and we've alluded to before Jake gets in the car and he says
[1:47:03] make sure the bathtub is clean. Yes, make sure that you take
[1:47:06] everything off and before he's dead make sure he's clean as a
[1:47:09] body, so you take all the identification off and then get
[1:47:11] rid of it. So that's why get his wallet
[1:47:13] first, make sure it's clean, make sure the.
[1:47:15] Scene's clean if. You get, yeah, you're going to
[1:47:17] kill him, kill him clean. Don't leave anything behind,
[1:47:19] don't leave his identification. Get all the shit off him.
[1:47:22] So I like that. That bit's fine.
[1:47:24] Yeah. Yeah, I can.
[1:47:24] I can go along with that. It's just the rest of it Where a
[1:47:28] city of 4 million people, yeah. I mean, yeah, there is that
[1:47:33] Alonso knows who she is. I don't know.
[1:47:38] I just like that idea of getting the wallet and that's fine.
[1:47:41] No, I can go along with that for certain.
[1:47:42] That's not the issue, yeah. It is a massive deal, but I
[1:47:45] don't mind that because there's. No, I don't think, I think we
[1:47:48] we're all OK with it. Yeah.
[1:47:49] Yeah. Well, this brings us to our
[1:47:51] third and final ATRM patron question.
[1:47:53] This one is from Roger Pedacta. Hello, Roger.
[1:47:56] Hello, Roger from Ace Ventura. Rodge says this movie has a
[1:48:01] pivotal DSX machina with the discovery of the wallet while
[1:48:04] Jake is being fed a shotgun in the bathtub.
[1:48:07] What are your favorite or top three favorite cinematic DSX
[1:48:10] Machina examples? Now, if you're not familiar with
[1:48:13] the concept, it's where a story or film or whatever offers a
[1:48:16] solution to a problem that seemed impossible to get out of
[1:48:20] to the complete surprise of the audience.
[1:48:22] Yeah, yes, it's usually a contrivance in the narrative,
[1:48:24] inserted just to serve the plot an unbelievable narrative beat.
[1:48:28] Yes, yeah, translates to God from the machine, doesn't it?
[1:48:32] Yes, yes it does. Yes.
[1:48:33] Something almost kind of ethereal happening for no.
[1:48:36] Reason. That's right.
[1:48:37] Yeah. Yeah.
[1:48:37] In this instance, Jake saved the girl from being attacked by the
[1:48:40] two hobos. And miraculously, in the city of
[1:48:42] 4 million people, he happens to come across the girl's gangster
[1:48:45] cousin the same day in his bathtub.
[1:48:47] Yeah, yes. I don't know about favours
[1:48:49] because I'm not really a fan of the concept.
[1:48:51] No. Yeah, I don't collect them, no.
[1:48:53] No no no. But I got three that came to
[1:48:55] mind. OK, firstly Ghostbusters, one of
[1:48:58] my favourites, crossing the streams at the end to the V
[1:49:01] Goza. Now, early we're told that
[1:49:03] crossing the streams is bad, and now, without any explanation or
[1:49:06] work to prove to the contrary, they use it to their advantage.
[1:49:09] Very. Convenient.
[1:49:10] Yeah, good point. Yeah.
[1:49:11] Superman the movie. There's an earthquake and loss
[1:49:13] is in deep shit. Miraculously, Superman is able
[1:49:17] to fly around the Earth with such speed he creates inertia
[1:49:21] that rewinds time, allowing me to save the day.
[1:49:24] Just do that at any point then. Yeah, a superhero film, so I
[1:49:28] suppose anything goes, but this concept is really tricky for.
[1:49:31] Me to swallow I mean, he never does it again when he.
[1:49:34] He never does it again. We've never even hinted at it
[1:49:36] before. No, no.
[1:49:37] No. And finally, it's the Wizard of
[1:49:40] Oz. OK.
[1:49:41] Witch of the West. She got Dorothy and her cronies
[1:49:44] right where she wants them. There's a glass of water next to
[1:49:47] Dorothy. How convenient.
[1:49:48] How convenient. Even more that this seems to be
[1:49:51] the only thing that can kill the witch.
[1:49:53] This hasn't been set up at all. I mean.
[1:49:56] How does she have a bath or a shower?
[1:49:59] How does she stay hydrated? Potions.
[1:50:02] Potions. That cauldron.
[1:50:05] So those are my 3. Matt, what about you?
[1:50:08] First one I'll go for is Wolf. The world's the like traditional
[1:50:12] adaptation where the all conquering Martians are raising
[1:50:16] the entire planet. Nuclear bombs don't scratch
[1:50:18] them. But then one of them catches a
[1:50:20] cold in the old eye. Take some Lem sip, you'd be
[1:50:24] fine. Repeat it again on Independence
[1:50:26] Day, isn't it? But it's a computer that catch.
[1:50:28] Exactly can be. Very clever stuff.
[1:50:30] I don't. Know here she Wells wrote it in
[1:50:31] the novel, but Even so, it's extremely convenient.
[1:50:34] Yeah, it is. Second one is maybe the kind of
[1:50:37] deliberately playing it up a bit, but in Monty Python and the
[1:50:40] Holy Grail, when they're being chased by the Black beast in the
[1:50:43] narrator says there was no escape for Arthur and his men
[1:50:45] until the animator had a sudden heart attack and died.
[1:50:48] And then you get that group of Gilliam Keelanov in his chair.
[1:50:50] I mean, it's played Flash, but Even so.
[1:50:52] Of course they didn't think. Oh, that's brilliant, right?
[1:50:56] Yeah, exactly. And then last one, I mean it's
[1:51:00] probably far from the worst crime about it, but in Attack of
[1:51:03] the Clones, R2D do suddenly can fly when he needs to rescue
[1:51:07] Padme from certain death. About that the skill he has
[1:51:11] never demonstrated before or since in any other Star Wars
[1:51:15] film. But he can fly now.
[1:51:16] Yes, fine. Yeah, says my thing. 33 great
[1:51:20] ones. What about you Wes?
[1:51:21] Do you got any? I've got 3 as well.
[1:51:23] I've read the claw in the incinerator scene in Toy Story
[1:51:26] 3, right? Yeah, that just kind of comes
[1:51:28] from nowhere. It's a nice little callback, but
[1:51:30] again, you know, that's incredibly convenient.
[1:51:32] Yeah, the Eagles in Return of the King.
[1:51:36] Yeah, Lord of the Rings. You'll not know about that, but
[1:51:38] that's incredibly convenient. Would have been useful at the
[1:51:40] beginning. Would have been useful earlier
[1:51:42] on, yeah, but my absolute favorite is the frogs at the end
[1:51:45] of Magnolia. Yeah, wow, Yeah.
[1:51:47] That's my absolute fear because what the fuck?
[1:51:49] What on earth? Who cares?
[1:51:51] It's amazing. Frogs at the end of Manoli is
[1:51:53] the ultimate sex manner. I think it's fucking wonderful
[1:51:56] because it makes zero sense, but it's so satisfying.
[1:51:59] Brilliant. A great question, Roger.
[1:52:01] Thank you. Let us know if we missed any of
[1:52:03] your favorites. Please do.
[1:52:05] So. Jake has miraculously made it
[1:52:07] out of that bathroom and he's making his way to great
[1:52:10] confrontation. Matt, he is.
[1:52:13] As we've said again, bit convenient that he chooses
[1:52:16] service place to go first of all and that's where he actually is.
[1:52:18] But that's fine. It's you know, it would be on
[1:52:20] the list. There's a reason to be, that's
[1:52:22] fine. I just love how absolutely
[1:52:25] shameless Alonso still is at this point.
[1:52:28] I mean, Jake's got the drop on him, he's going to call it, and
[1:52:31] he's still trying to talk his way out of it.
[1:52:33] Unbelievable. I mean, there's only little
[1:52:35] physical bits that Denzel does, which remains and giving him the
[1:52:38] round of applause. But with the big blocks of cash,
[1:52:41] that's such a great visual. Because.
[1:52:44] It's. It's funny, but it's also look
[1:52:46] what I've got. Jake, do you want some of this?
[1:52:49] It's really tempting, Tempting, but like, say, just so shame.
[1:52:52] Congratulations, son, You made it.
[1:52:54] You're in. Like, I know he's charismatic.
[1:52:56] I know he is, but who's buying this now?
[1:52:58] He's just got this absolute refusal to admit defeat, which
[1:53:02] is part of what makes him so compelling.
[1:53:04] But again, he's just always got an argument to make.
[1:53:07] You doubt yourself, You know, you don't have any witnesses as
[1:53:09] to what happened. It's not what you know.
[1:53:11] It's where you can prove, because obviously Jake does have
[1:53:14] the drugs in the system still and he doesn't have anyone that
[1:53:17] will back his story up. Then again, I think this shows
[1:53:20] the difference between the two because Jake could shoot Alonzo
[1:53:22] here and now and probably get away with it, but he never would
[1:53:26] because that's the divine line and that's the line he won't
[1:53:28] cross. So the confrontation, he was
[1:53:30] great. I love when he kind of dives.
[1:53:32] I recover in Alonso City. You know, I'm surgical with this
[1:53:35] Jake. No, this, when you find out it
[1:53:37] was similar, put blue in the wheelchair.
[1:53:38] That's great. But I do think it starts to
[1:53:40] wobble again a bit here because this is what I mean by air
[1:53:43] having to resolve the conflict. And it's not as good as the
[1:53:45] setup of the conflict because the fight's pretty well done.
[1:53:48] But I think things like Jake hanging off the edge of the
[1:53:51] balcony and there's a spiked fence floor and there's a bark
[1:53:53] and really vicious dog about it. Get him and it's just a bit.
[1:53:56] Who's he going to fall? It was doom.
[1:53:58] Of course not. It's not the type of film saw.
[1:54:01] I think Washington and Hawk are really elevating his final
[1:54:03] confrontation because otherwise it's just starting to feel a bit
[1:54:06] generic at this point, this actual kind of physical fight
[1:54:08] that they have. Yeah, I think this fight I'm
[1:54:11] least bothered about this fight and anything else in the film.
[1:54:14] Absolutely. Yeah.
[1:54:15] Even though like kinetically it's well shot.
[1:54:18] Yeah. Yeah, the fight, it's brutal
[1:54:19] when when Jake goes through that window as well.
[1:54:22] Yeah. In David is original script, the
[1:54:24] film ends with Jake dumping the money on the bed and walking
[1:54:26] away. Without the fight, without the
[1:54:28] shootout, without King Kong, without the Russians.
[1:54:31] Wow. He always had in the back of his
[1:54:33] mind that the studio would probably demand changes.
[1:54:35] He said his was the art movie version, saying that it would
[1:54:39] have been a version that nobody saw.
[1:54:41] No. Sounds good to me.
[1:54:45] I don't think that anybody has ever referred to Trainer Dears
[1:54:49] Art movie. Definitely not.
[1:54:52] Definitely not. But Denzel was a big advocate
[1:54:55] for changing the end, and he felt the original vision was a
[1:54:57] bit of a cop out, no pun intended.
[1:54:59] It felt like they were keeping things open for sequel in his
[1:55:02] view, and he insisted that if Alonso lives in the worst way,
[1:55:05] he should die in the worst way. And for him, the best way for
[1:55:08] Alonso to go would be for the community to turn the back on
[1:55:10] him and for him to get slapped around and just end up crawling
[1:55:13] around on the ground like snake. Yeah, the what a way to go for
[1:55:16] the character, Yeah. And there were a few different
[1:55:18] endings considered including Lonzo getting away with it.
[1:55:21] Another had Alonzo killing himself.
[1:55:23] And in the deleted scene Jake pulls up but he's home at the
[1:55:26] end. And someone gets out of the car
[1:55:27] parked over the road. And it's Tom Barringer's
[1:55:29] character who says and asks where the money is.
[1:55:32] And Jake replies, it's in the lock up, get the foot on me
[1:55:35] driveway leave. And then he kind of must himself
[1:55:38] as evidence. Yeah.
[1:55:39] And so there's some unfinished business there with the three
[1:55:41] wise members that seems being deleted.
[1:55:43] But I think that would have worked quite like that at the
[1:55:45] end. I think I would have been all
[1:55:46] right because there is definitely some ambiguity right
[1:55:49] at the end when Jake gets home and the police reports doesn't
[1:55:52] see anything about corruption or anything like that.
[1:55:54] There's a cover up somewhere. So he hasn't told anyone about
[1:55:57] anything. Yeah, I like that.
[1:55:59] I mean, after the fight, after the car chase, after the running
[1:56:01] over, really, we end up in the same place where Jake isn't
[1:56:04] supposed to be without Alonzo, but he's with Alonzo and
[1:56:08] everybody's watching. And here is the moment that
[1:56:09] everyone remembers Training Day. I mean, this scene is just an
[1:56:13] absolute. It's just a wonder to behold.
[1:56:17] It's an absolute joy from start to finish, just the way he's
[1:56:20] carrying himself and holding himself.
[1:56:22] And to me, this absolutely screams that he's been found
[1:56:26] out. It screams that he's got no
[1:56:28] other way to go if you wanted to follow that particular line.
[1:56:31] It also screams that he's been undercover this whole time and
[1:56:34] he's got no way out. He's got to keep this persona
[1:56:36] up. He's got to keep this act up in
[1:56:38] front of everybody. He can't drop it now.
[1:56:40] He needs that money to get out. He's got to play the character
[1:56:43] all the way to the end. Doesn't expect Jake to shoot
[1:56:45] him, shoots him in the ass. He can't be in the ass.
[1:56:48] Me in the ass which? Again, is a little into the
[1:56:51] character, the next one will kill you.
[1:56:54] Just some of the dialogue in here, just give me the money and
[1:56:57] let me go home. You don't quite know where home
[1:56:59] is. Because he looks up at Sarah and
[1:57:01] look, she picks the kid up and they disappear.
[1:57:03] And he's genuinely upset. He's emotional at this point.
[1:57:06] His plan hasn't worked. So which plan you're following,
[1:57:10] it doesn't really matter because they all have the same
[1:57:11] conclusion, all ends the same way, which I think is absolutely
[1:57:15] fantastic. But he's like, I'm going to burn
[1:57:17] this motherfucker down. Everybody's on my side.
[1:57:20] And he's just really clutching its straws here.
[1:57:23] Jake's in. I am not like you.
[1:57:24] And he realizes that at that point, he can't really do
[1:57:27] anything else. He can't pick him up, he can't
[1:57:29] push him down, he can't pull him anymore.
[1:57:30] It's duality is over with now. He's completely revealed, but
[1:57:34] it's so powerful when he just leans up against the car and
[1:57:38] just says, you know, you can shoot me, but you can't get me.
[1:57:42] You won't get who I really am. You'll never get what I've been
[1:57:45] doing. There's something deeper here.
[1:57:46] Yeah, there's a deep you can shoot this, but it doesn't mean
[1:57:49] that that's the end, because I've done something that nobody
[1:57:51] knows about. This is just a character play.
[1:57:53] You've just been watching this act all the way through, which I
[1:57:56] really, really get from that. And it's just really powerful.
[1:57:59] When he said what a day. He's.
[1:58:02] Like I'm winning anyway. As if he's done something and
[1:58:06] he's uncovered something that's going to play out that we don't
[1:58:09] know about. He's one.
[1:58:10] Yeah. And then the Russians turn up
[1:58:12] now the pull up at an intersection and absolutely
[1:58:15] destroy him to shoot the car up. He gets out the car.
[1:58:18] There's no discussions. No, there's no characters.
[1:58:20] There's no people to speak to that he recognized.
[1:58:23] Everyone's in masks. There's a woman in the car, and
[1:58:25] he's blown away. It is, you know, James Carlton
[1:58:27] blown. Jimmy Car isn't.
[1:58:28] It is absolutely. You know, it's like, like Bonnie
[1:58:31] and Clyde blown away. He's absolutely destroyed and it
[1:58:35] doesn't matter whether he's got the money or not at this point.
[1:58:37] So honestly think there's something else going on because
[1:58:39] this is an execution. There's something else going on
[1:58:42] here where this guy needs to be taken out, and he's been taken
[1:58:45] out in the worst way. I mean, this scene especially
[1:58:48] and that King Kong line is just is huge.
[1:58:50] That should be funny, but it's not.
[1:58:51] No, it should be. It should be.
[1:58:53] I'm King Kong. It's just definitely so what's
[1:58:56] the biggest thing I can think of that's going to destroy
[1:58:59] somewhere? And he's just, you know, he
[1:59:00] could have hit you with anything, King Kong, Godzilla,
[1:59:02] anything, and it would have worked.
[1:59:03] It's just that kind of size of it.
[1:59:05] Then this scene especially it was filmed at the Palmwood Dr.
[1:59:09] cul-de-sac known as the jungle in Baldwin Village area of Los
[1:59:13] Angeles. The Dead End St. in Black P
[1:59:15] Stones Blood Gang Territory had gang members on rooftops during
[1:59:19] filming for authentic neighborhood presence.
[1:59:21] Amazing. Yeah, those surrounding Alonzo
[1:59:24] Denzel, those are all real people.
[1:59:26] That's their neighborhood. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[1:59:28] And obviously that line, one of the most iconic lines in cinema,
[1:59:32] I think. Yeah, Yeah.
[1:59:34] It was improvised by Washington on the spot.
[1:59:37] Incredible. Yeah, Fuqua looked at the
[1:59:40] cameraman after Washington delivered the line and said, I
[1:59:43] hope you got that because that's probably never going to happen
[1:59:45] again. Yeah, amazing.
[1:59:47] And Denzel later said his ego was so big that King Kong didn't
[1:59:51] register. When he gets out of his car,
[1:59:53] he's head into his trunk to try and get some guns.
[1:59:55] He still thinks that he can get away with it.
[1:59:57] He was all about the ego. Yeah, he has been all the way
[2:00:00] through. So that is it, We can finally
[2:00:03] pause for breath as the Wild Riders come to an end, with Jake
[2:00:05] making it home alive, barely in one piece.
[2:00:08] Yeah. Barely.
[2:00:09] What's he going to say to his Mrs. when he gets in?
[2:00:11] I had no breakfast, then I had some PCP.
[2:00:14] Sorry. Three fingers of whiskey.
[2:00:17] And then Roger got shot. Who the fuck's Roger?
[2:00:19] What are you talking about? Reception and awards.
[2:00:27] Training Day tested at San Diego Comic Con and received probably
[2:00:31] the lowest test screening scores of Fuqua's career.
[2:00:33] Wow, wow. Audiences were particularly
[2:00:36] upset that Denzel's character dies at the end, He said they
[2:00:39] were unable to accept his death despite them being obviously,
[2:00:42] you know, the most henous person in the world.
[2:00:44] Right. Yeah.
[2:00:45] So despite the poor test scores, Fuqua refused to change the end
[2:00:48] and believing it was essential that the corrupt cop face
[2:00:51] consequences for his actions. Of course he can't get away with
[2:00:54] it. It's outrageous.
[2:00:55] What does that teach people? Exactly.
[2:00:58] Yeah, sounding a boat like Andy Dufresne.
[2:01:04] And the film premiered at the 58th Venice International Film
[2:01:07] Festival on September 2nd, 2001, and received very strong word of
[2:01:12] mouth buzz, some of which came from Richard Linklater, who told
[2:01:15] Fuqua and Hawk that they'd made a classic.
[2:01:17] Nice. To true, Yeah.
[2:01:19] Fuqua attended the Venice premiere but largely stayed away
[2:01:21] from the limelight. He later said that he had
[2:01:23] immersed himself in the film so much that he needed to step away
[2:01:26] from it. He said that it'd been viewing
[2:01:28] through the lens of another character for too long, that he
[2:01:31] had to distance himself from all these gang members.
[2:01:34] He was just immersed, entrenched in the culture, and he needed to
[2:01:37] get away. Yeah.
[2:01:37] Fair enough. It was scheduled for a
[2:01:39] nationwide release on September 21st, 2001, but Warren has
[2:01:43] decided to delay this until 5th of October because they spotted
[2:01:46] a potential backlash from audiences in the wake of 9/11.
[2:01:49] Right. Yeah.
[2:01:50] Particularly as emergency services police were being
[2:01:52] hailed as heroes. Yeah.
[2:01:54] Yeah. The soundtrack was actually
[2:01:55] released on September 11th. Ouch.
[2:01:58] The plan did work, training days, word of mouth being
[2:02:01] translated into a steady box office success.
[2:02:03] Final totals reached $104.9 million worldwide against a
[2:02:08] 45,000,000 production budget. Lovely.
[2:02:11] But the popularity of the film wasn't limited to audiences.
[2:02:14] Varieties Review praised the film, saying it had enough rough
[2:02:17] action, edgy behavior and violence laden titillation to be
[2:02:21] a muscular box office performer for one of others.
[2:02:24] Nice Empire gave it 4 out of five, marred slightly by an
[2:02:27] unsatisfactory climax. This is a cracking cop drama
[2:02:31] anchored by great performances in intelligent direction from
[2:02:34] Fuqua. It's refreshing to see a
[2:02:36] thriller worthy of the label. Yes, it is.
[2:02:39] Very good. Yeah.
[2:02:39] And finally, the big man himself, Big Rog, Roger EBIT out
[2:02:45] of four, what do you think he gave it?
[2:02:46] 3. I got 2.5.
[2:02:49] Maybe he was a little caught on it.
[2:02:51] Oh, I know he was warmer than that.
[2:02:53] Matt. He was 3.
[2:02:54] Westy, well done enough. Nice one.
[2:02:56] He said Alonzo Harris makes Popeyes oil look like officer
[2:02:59] friendly. Washington's performance is over
[2:03:02] the top and down the other side is screenplay is ingenious in
[2:03:05] the wave plants queues and pays them off in unexpected ways.
[2:03:08] It might have been better if it had stayed closer to life, but
[2:03:11] it doesn't want to be fair enough.
[2:03:13] And now it has. 74% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, 89% from
[2:03:17] audiences and 7.8 out of 10 are IMDb.
[2:03:20] Big score, big score. Lovely.
[2:03:22] The buzz followed into award season.
[2:03:24] The film didn't pick up a raft of nominations across the board.
[2:03:27] They were mostly for best actor for Denzel, only the big Best
[2:03:31] actor winner that year at the Baftas and the Golden Globes.
[2:03:34] Other award ceremonies as well was Russell Crowe for A
[2:03:36] Beautiful Mind. But allegedly after an
[2:03:39] altercation Crow had backstage at the Bafta's when a poem he
[2:03:42] read out during his speech was cut from ATV broadcast.
[2:03:46] He basically had a punch up with the producer.
[2:03:48] Yeah. Attention switched to Denzel for
[2:03:50] the Oscars, where he did end up getting that coveted best actor
[2:03:54] award. This was a historic moment as he
[2:03:56] became only the second Black actor to win best actor after
[2:03:59] Sidney Poitier, who won for Lilies of the Field from 1963.
[2:04:03] Yeah. And that same night, Mr. Sidney
[2:04:06] Poitier, my favorite actor, you saved an honorary Oscar.
[2:04:10] And this created a momentous occasion, which Denzel
[2:04:13] acknowledged in his speech. He said, 40 years I've been
[2:04:15] chasing Sydney, they finally give it to me.
[2:04:18] And what did they do? They give it to him on the same
[2:04:20] night. I'll always be chasing you,
[2:04:21] Sydney. Lovely.
[2:04:23] Wonderful. That's wonderful.
[2:04:24] Yeah. And during film, one of the
[2:04:25] driving sequences for the film, Fuqua leaned in and told Ethan
[2:04:28] Hawke, you get this right and you're going to get nominated
[2:04:31] for an Oscar. I mean, that's motivation, isn't
[2:04:33] it? Yeah, isn't it?
[2:04:33] When it was that the very first scene, very as he met him.
[2:04:37] Make sure you get this right. So never a true word said as
[2:04:40] Hawk was also nominated at the Oscars for Best Support and
[2:04:43] Actor, although he lost out to Jim Broadbent for Iris.
[2:04:47] After the winner was announced to Washington lead over the Hawk
[2:04:50] and said it's better that you didn't win, losing was better.
[2:04:53] You don't want an award or improve your status.
[2:04:56] You want to improve the award status.
[2:04:58] Nice. Lovely, but I bet he didn't say
[2:05:00] that when he won about 20 minutes later.
[2:05:02] This is actually pretty good. Ethan, you have one of these.
[2:05:06] Hulk wasn't too bothered about the loss, so he later reflected,
[2:05:09] having been sat next to Washington and nominated against
[2:05:12] Ian McKellen, had already won. Yeah, nice.
[2:05:15] So a triple threat from Training day with box office critical and
[2:05:17] awards recognition fully deserved in our opinion.
[2:05:20] Oh. Absolutely, yeah, sequels and
[2:05:25] influence. There has been talk about a
[2:05:30] return to training day for the big screen for years, which has
[2:05:33] failed to materialise so far. The training day world was
[2:05:36] expanded for the small screen in 2017, starring Bill Paxton and
[2:05:39] Justin Cornwell AS2. Earlier, cops said 15 years
[2:05:42] after the events of the original, notable as the first
[2:05:46] episode was released only three weeks before Paxton.
[2:05:49] Sad passing. All right.
[2:05:50] So it was never going to be renewed for a second season,
[2:05:53] which was unlikely anywhere as the reviews were not kind.
[2:05:57] Right. Currently, it's 24% of Rotten
[2:05:59] Tomatoes. Not two years after the film was
[2:06:02] released in June 2003, Alonzo Harris was ranked 50th greatest
[2:06:05] villain of all time on the AF5100 Years 100 Heroes and
[2:06:09] Villains list. Immediate recognition in the
[2:06:11] annals of history for an iconic performance, but for us, where
[2:06:15] do we see its legacy and influence in the intervening
[2:06:19] years? Westie I.
[2:06:21] Mean it's legacy and influence for me.
[2:06:22] I mean he should definitely be higher than 54 villain.
[2:06:25] I agree it's up there. I think if that was revised
[2:06:27] soon, he'll be further up the list.
[2:06:29] I think it's just only two years after, yeah.
[2:06:32] Very, very good performance, almost like a timeless
[2:06:34] performance, I think from Denzel.
[2:06:35] Yeah. And I think what we got from
[2:06:37] this is a real surge of Denzel films, you know, that were
[2:06:40] centered around Denzel. There was a lot of things that
[2:06:42] he did before this. Even the hurricane didn't really
[2:06:45] seem to be around him. You know, the Bone Collector
[2:06:47] wasn't that much around him. No Courage under Fire, no
[2:06:50] Philadelphia, No. But then all of a sudden you've
[2:06:52] got like American Gangster, which kind of seemed to be his
[2:06:55] films. And then from there you've got
[2:06:57] the Equalizer films. I think when he did the first
[2:07:00] Equalizer with Antoine, Football again added a little bit more to
[2:07:03] his career. I think this film gave him a lot
[2:07:05] of confidence, give Fuqua a lot of confidence.
[2:07:07] And I think here as well, he just started writing about
[2:07:10] characters and creating character pieces and started
[2:07:12] stop worrying so much about plot when he realized that plot in
[2:07:15] this is there. But it's an inconvenience for
[2:07:18] me. I think I would like to have
[2:07:19] seen more from Ethan Hawke on the back of this, but again, I
[2:07:23] just really respect and appreciate his choices because
[2:07:27] they are few and far between and when he does something he does
[2:07:30] it with everything, even if it's not massive or not brilliant.
[2:07:33] He just has a real honesty and real integrity about who he is,
[2:07:37] and I really, really adore him as a human being.
[2:07:39] To be fair, I think he's a wonderful guy.
[2:07:41] People have tried to imitate this, even like 2 Guns with
[2:07:45] Denzel in it. It's just nothing really touches
[2:07:48] it. Nothing really has this kind of
[2:07:49] level of intertwining mystery because I think this film itself
[2:07:53] is just an incredible melting pot of all of these themes, but
[2:07:56] also all of this talent that all of this need to make something
[2:08:00] that was authentic. We are getting more authentic
[2:08:02] films and we definitely have since this one, but this is the
[2:08:06] one for me that feels the most cinematic and is a real
[2:08:08] blueprint. Yeah, absolutely.
[2:08:10] Yeah. I think you can look at it from
[2:08:12] a number of different ways. I think first up, the film gave
[2:08:15] Fuqua A springboard as a director.
[2:08:17] I don't think he gets a career without it, so not a career he's
[2:08:20] had. And gave us further collabs with
[2:08:23] Denzel. You've got a number of similarly
[2:08:26] themed films that came in its wake.
[2:08:28] Brooklyn's finest, A Fuqua film, 999 Rampart, which was based on
[2:08:32] true events about the police crimes that this film was
[2:08:34] inspired by before they were even exposed.
[2:08:37] I just don't think that's getting made without this film.
[2:08:39] End of Watch, which is a David A written and directed, which is a
[2:08:43] sequel to this. It's very, very spiritually
[2:08:46] connected, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[2:08:48] Would Peter Jackson have revisited King Kong in 2005
[2:08:51] without this film? That's maybe a stretch.
[2:08:52] That's a good point, yeah. But of course you've got a
[2:08:57] character of Alonzo Harris, one of the most iconic anti heroes
[2:09:01] bad guys in cinema. He was the first character that
[2:09:03] Denzel really leaned into as a bad guy, which had an influence
[2:09:06] I think on the rest of his career to be morally ambiguous
[2:09:09] and that King Kong line. And that's transcended film.
[2:09:12] It's got that crossover appeal. And that's just from 1
[2:09:15] character. So I think there's a lot to
[2:09:17] discuss in terms of influence and legacy, but the biggest
[2:09:20] revolves around that enormous Denzel performance.
[2:09:22] Yeah, it does. Yeah, very similar to it's, it's
[2:09:25] peak Denzel here. It's possibly the one
[2:09:27] performance maybe Malcolm XI put in there as well that most of
[2:09:30] the performances will be judged against because it's so central.
[2:09:34] It's all good and I think it's just very hard to make any kind
[2:09:37] of corrupt cop film after this without people going.
[2:09:40] It's as good as Training Day, though.
[2:09:41] If it's not, what's the point? But in terms of influence,
[2:09:45] though, I'm going to see ATV. And it's difficult to see
[2:09:47] influence because it started the same year this film came out.
[2:09:50] But there was a show called The Shield, which was also based on
[2:09:54] the Rampart scandal. It was about a corrupt police
[2:09:56] unit in LA Absolutely fantastic. If you've not seen it, it's
[2:10:00] definitely well worth watching. Great stars.
[2:10:02] Michael Chiklis. He's the main character and he
[2:10:04] is unbelievable in it. Very, very long.
[2:10:06] So like. So, yeah, I think The Shield
[2:10:08] goes hand in hand with this. Brilliant.
[2:10:11] So incredibly popular on release and still now decades later.
[2:10:14] King Kong really ain't got shit on training day.
[2:10:17] No, he hasn't all the right movies ranking.
[2:10:24] We finally made it home a little bruised and batted a little
[2:10:27] worse for wear and tear, and now it's time to provide our summary
[2:10:31] and score for Training Day. Europe first, Westie.
[2:10:34] I mean, I know we've taught at length about this, and it is
[2:10:36] such a rewarding film and you get a lot from it.
[2:10:38] And the more you watch it, the more you think about it, the
[2:10:40] more rewarding it actually is because there is so much to, I
[2:10:43] mean, just the Denzel Washington performance alone is worth
[2:10:49] watching it 3 or 4 times, Then you've got everything else on
[2:10:52] top. Ethan Hawkes, absolutely
[2:10:53] fantastic, probably one of his greatest performances to be
[2:10:56] honest, but you just can't see it because of the shadow of
[2:10:58] Denzel Washington over the top of it.
[2:11:00] Supporting cast is absolutely fantastic.
[2:11:02] The level of authenticity is absolutely fantastic.
[2:11:04] Fuqua's direction is just so beautifully measured that we've
[2:11:08] talked about. The cinematography, the sound
[2:11:10] design is unbelievable. The edit works really, really
[2:11:12] well. Hand in hand with that, it's a
[2:11:14] perfectly constructed, really well made film and it's endless
[2:11:18] entertaining and it's 90% bullshit and that's the whole
[2:11:21] point. I think You really hits home for
[2:11:24] me. It's a great film.
[2:11:25] It's one I've enjoyed coming back to over and over and not
[2:11:27] one I would have watched as much if we weren't doing a podcast on
[2:11:30] it a couple of times to be honest.
[2:11:32] And I'm so pleased that I've checked it out 2345 times
[2:11:36] because it's just more and more rewarding every time.
[2:11:38] And if there's people listening to this who love Training Day,
[2:11:41] then you'll know what I'm talking about.
[2:11:42] If there's people listening to this scene it once or twice,
[2:11:44] then watch it again and again and it will become a much better
[2:11:48] film. Haven't said that.
[2:11:49] There is bits that we've mentioned that it's a little bit
[2:11:52] far fetched. It's a bit of a push for that
[2:11:54] one together, but it's just so good that you can't ignore it.
[2:11:57] But again, that's not an excuse for what it is.
[2:11:59] It could have been a little bit better written in places, it
[2:12:02] could have been a little bit more solid and a little bit more
[2:12:04] structured. It's a great film but it isn't
[2:12:06] perfect. So it's a nine out of 10 for me.
[2:12:08] Fantastic. Still a damn good score.
[2:12:11] What about you, Matt? Yeah.
[2:12:12] It's a great film, always thoroughly enjoyed coming back
[2:12:14] to this and it's one I'd recommend to people if they
[2:12:16] haven't seen it, like without any real reservations, because
[2:12:19] the thing it's it's just that type from the thing.
[2:12:22] Everyone will get something out of it.
[2:12:23] It's a real flavor of the streets, which The thing is done
[2:12:26] to how Truecour directed Ethan Hawke's underratedness.
[2:12:30] And you do just when I was superlative.
[2:12:32] So that Denzel Washington performance, mesmeric, charming,
[2:12:36] terrifying, hilarious. He's evident and the film is
[2:12:39] absolutely at its best when it's as those two kind of dancing
[2:12:42] along that line of ambiguity about what's right and what's
[2:12:45] wrong in this world. But it is a film of three
[2:12:47] thirds. The 1st 2/3 is so good and if it
[2:12:50] maintained that quality, I think we'd be looking at an all timer
[2:12:54] of the film here. But that last third, as Wesley
[2:12:57] says we've discussed it, hinges on a massive coincidence.
[2:13:00] These are the plot holes along the way.
[2:13:02] And I think kind of want to get to that final confrontation.
[2:13:05] It just starts to feel a bit generic in a bit.
[2:13:08] I have seen this before these, yes.
[2:13:11] And then how much of the film is really carried by that Denzel
[2:13:14] performance? You know, even if they've got
[2:13:16] someone who gave even just 70% of the performance he gave, I
[2:13:20] think that would lower the overall quality quite a bit.
[2:13:23] So it's not an absolute out, not classic of the genre for me, but
[2:13:26] it is comfortably on that second row.
[2:13:28] So it's an 8.5 for me. 8.5 yeah. Nice.
[2:13:33] Well, I just get excited by this film.
[2:13:35] No matter how many times I see that dynasty, I have my mouth
[2:13:39] open in anticipation in the next hurtful comment that.
[2:13:42] Yeah, I know. You mean yeah.
[2:13:44] I watched Denzel in this roaring around LA with an ego as big as
[2:13:48] the city. I'd watch it all day long.
[2:13:50] And not to mention the selflessness of Ethan Hawke's
[2:13:53] performance as well. Yeah, and now it's a film I'll
[2:13:55] return to again and again, and I would recommend it to anyone
[2:13:59] because it entertains me. Very good.
[2:14:04] But you do have to suspend disbelief for large portions of
[2:14:07] the film. But I don't think that that's a
[2:14:09] conscious decision because you're on this 100 mile an hour
[2:14:12] roller coaster. You don't realize that the
[2:14:14] tracks wobbling, you're just going along for the ride.
[2:14:16] Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
[2:14:17] When you get that card game at the end, you've been through the
[2:14:19] ringer so much that you're willing to give it a pass
[2:14:22] despite the absolute liberties taken in the right thing.
[2:14:26] You're already invested. You're already in.
[2:14:28] Yeah, I think that's a testament to the performances and the
[2:14:31] storytelling from Fuqua. A film doesn't have to be
[2:14:35] perfect to make an impact, to be an Oscar winner, to be
[2:14:37] rewatchable and quotable as hell.
[2:14:39] But it can't get 10 out of 10 for that reason.
[2:14:42] Yeah, so I'm stripping away a point given Train and Dear 9 out
[2:14:46] of 10. OK, so those are our scores for
[2:14:49] the film, but our 4th and final scores come from our Patreon
[2:14:52] community. I will reveal their scores in a
[2:14:54] moment, but first some choice comments, OK?
[2:14:57] OK. Dermot C said not the best in
[2:15:00] the genre, not the best career performance from Denzel
[2:15:02] Washington or Ethan Hawke. Still watchable though.
[2:15:05] It's a solid 7 from me. Wow, OK.
[2:15:09] From Matt T, he said. It's a nine from me, a good
[2:15:13] portion of these votes of for the Bravaro performance by
[2:15:16] Denzel. It's not a 10, and if I could
[2:15:19] give it an 8.5, maybe I would because I find repeat viewings
[2:15:22] of it make it lose its cool and impact.
[2:15:24] Then I remember Macy Gray's in it and it's back to A9.
[2:15:28] Yes. Fair enough.
[2:15:30] Very much. It'll take much.
[2:15:32] No it doesn't. How about this though From Tim
[2:15:35] Bruce Alert? Tim said 5.
[2:15:39] OK, it's only that high so I don't get called out for a
[2:15:42] review bombing, right? Hate the subject matter, the
[2:15:45] ridiculously convenient plot elements, especially the ending
[2:15:48] and the feeling. I've seen this all 100 times
[2:15:51] before I changed my mind. It's a 3.
[2:15:55] OK. Hitting us where it hurts there,
[2:15:57] Tim. But at least you're honest,
[2:15:58] right? Yeah, there he is, honest.
[2:16:00] Yeah, he's not a review woman. No, at least he's being honest.
[2:16:03] And finally from Dan Roberts, Superb film, perfect mix of dark
[2:16:07] humor and tension, great acting performances all round. 10 out
[2:16:11] of 10A palate cleanser from Dan there.
[2:16:14] OK. Nice limoncello from Dan.
[2:16:16] Yeah, lovely. Lovely.
[2:16:18] So a lot to wear through there. Some stirring views, some
[2:16:21] striking views. Yeah.
[2:16:23] What do you think? It averaged on Patriot and Chaps
[2:16:26] I. Think in it.
[2:16:27] I have no idea. Yeah, it.
[2:16:29] It got a very respectable 9 out of 10.
[2:16:32] Oh. Nice, that's good.
[2:16:34] Which means that Trinity's overall score is 35.5 solid.
[2:16:39] Yeah, Solid, solid, solid. Yeah, yeah.
[2:16:41] Join us again in all the right movies.
[2:16:43] In two weeks, John, Westie and Matt will be in Middle Earth to
[2:16:46] talk about the film as huge as Denzel's performance here, the
[2:16:49] first installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The
[2:16:52] Fellowship of the Ring. That should be jam packed.
[2:16:56] Yes. Sure, Crammed 1 does not simply
[2:16:59] make a podcast about Fellowship of the Ring, but we are.
[2:17:03] Very nice like that. Love that.
[2:17:05] Excellent. Did you get it, Luke?
[2:17:07] Did you understand the reference or?
[2:17:09] Yeah, OK. Yeah.
[2:17:11] Yep, definitely, definitely. You seen the meme?
[2:17:13] He's fine. That's all you need to see in it
[2:17:19] for our patrons. This month's episode of The
[2:17:21] Watch List, our movie review show, came out last week, and
[2:17:25] our double feature episode this month is on Leonardo DiCaprio
[2:17:28] and Shooter Island and The Revenant.
[2:17:30] That will be with you next week. What's a good?
[2:17:32] It's a very. Good one, and there are loads
[2:17:35] more treats on the way from all the right movies before the
[2:17:38] year's end. If you haven't done it already,
[2:17:40] please give us a positive rate. And wherever you listen to
[2:17:42] podcasts, if you've come this far, it's absolute certainty
[2:17:46] that you love the podcast. Must be.
[2:17:48] So please, five stars if you can.
[2:17:51] If you can, please yes. And as ever, social media is
[2:17:54] where it's at for your daily ATR and fix.
[2:17:57] We're on X Blue Sky, Threads, Instagram, TikTok.
[2:18:00] As always, our making of movie threads go up on X Blue sky and
[2:18:03] threads. And just like our podcast, they
[2:18:05] are extensively researched with all information corroborated by
[2:18:08] at least three sources are coming from the mouths of the
[2:18:11] cast or crew. Yes.
[2:18:13] You can join our Facebook group for another incredible movie
[2:18:16] community. Our YouTube channel is
[2:18:18] youtube.com/all Right Movies. More new videos going up there
[2:18:22] regularly, so don't forget to check that out on a regular
[2:18:24] basis. Absolutely.
[2:18:26] And our website is all the right movies.com.
[2:18:29] Yeah. And that is a wrap, everyone.
[2:18:31] Yeah. It's not what you know, it's
[2:18:33] what you can prove. And I think we've proved that
[2:18:35] this shit's chested in checkers. Nice you.
[2:18:38] Love that line so much. It does.
[2:18:40] Every time. We're going to go out to the
[2:18:43] office, which will no doubt involve drinking whiskeys, beer,
[2:18:47] red wine, smoke in the yard. Hit the PCP.
[2:18:49] Yeah. Why not?
[2:18:50] Yeah. Thanks for listening everyone.
[2:18:52] Come back to Lord of the Rings in two weeks, yes?
[2:18:55] Thanks guys. Thank you so much guys.
[2:18:56] Thank you. The shit's chess.
[2:19:18] It ain't checkers.

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