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My favorite Denzel Washington movie just landed on Paramount Plus — you need to stream this crime thriller now
“Training Day” might be the best movie from the new shows and movies on Paramount Plus this month.
Hopefully, you’ve seen this crime thriller or are at least familiar with it. It’s centered around an incredible Denzel Washington performance that ultimately earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor and is my pick for Denzel’s best performance of his career.
His performance isn’t the only great one in this movie either. Ethan Hawke is nearly as good and also earned an Oscar nomination for his performance. But if you remember any performance from this movie, it’s probably Denzel’s.
That said, you might not remember this movie, or there’s a chance you’ve never even seen it. “Training Day” only brought in around $105 million at the box office back in 2001, and it’s now nearly 24 years old, meaning at least an entire generation of people might not even know this movie exists.
But I’m here to fix that, because this crime thriller is a must-watch. Here’s what “Training Day” is about and why you need to check out Denzel’s greatest performance now that it’s available to stream on Paramount Plus.
What is ‘Training Day’ about?
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“Training Day” stars Ethan Hawke as LAPD officer Jake Hoyt, who is trying to join the narcotics squad of Detective Alonzo Harris (Washington). To get the gig, he will need to ride along with Alonzo as his partner for a one-day trial evaluation.
That ride-along comes with some serious risks. Alonzo’s squad covers some of the most violent, gang-ridden neighborhoods of Los Angeles. As the pair goes around looking for crime, they come across everything from college kids buying marijuana to drug dealers carrying loaded guns.
However, as the day goes on, Jake realizes that the most dangerous part of this gig might not be the crime in LA. It might just be his new partner.
King Kong ain’t got nothing on Denzel
For the record, as much as I love this movie, it’s not flawless. The plot pretty quickly devolves into something that requires suspension of disbelief.
But Denzel’s performance as Alonzo will make it incredibly easy to overlook these flaws, and you don’t have to wait particularly long for him to start cooking. And once he gets going, he doesn’t really stop.
Again, Ethan Hawke is genuinely great in “Training Day,” and maybe without him alongside Denzel, their performances become undone by the screenplay.
But I’m convinced this would have been an incredible performance regardless of who Denzel was acting alongside.
There’s one scene in the movie — and if you’ve seen this crime thriller before, you’ll know which one I’m talking about — where Jake catches some guys assaulting a girl in an alley.
From the moment Alonzo comes up on them, it’s probably around a four-minute scene and most of it is Denzel just ripping off incredible line after incredible line. Hawke may have two lines in the entire thing.
But it doesn’t matter that it’s just Denzel doing his thing, because he’s mesmerizing doing it. It’s why you need to watch “Training Day” right now, and witness one of the greatest actors ever give the greatest performance of his career.
Stream “Training Day” now on Paramount Plus
Malcolm McMillan
Malcolm has been with Tom’s Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He’s not one to shy away from a hot take, including that “John Wick” is one of the four greatest films ever made.
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