Movie Stats:
Released 2001 (Italy)
American & Australian, in English (minor, non-translated Spanish, Russian & Korean)
Director - Antoine Fuqua
Stars - Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke
Plot Summary:
Rookie LAPD officer Jake Hoyt’s (Hawke) first day on the job with the narcotics department becomes a wild ride due to his supervisor, Alonzo Harris (Washington).
Warnings:
Extreme violence; extreme gore; extensive blue language; brief female nudity (everything); consensual (sort of) drug use (pot laced with PCP).
Bad Stuff:
I was bored to tears. I don’t understand how a movie with this much action & violence can be so dull, but it is.
Half the time, I didn’t understand what was happening. I’m a reasonably intelligent person, but I had to keep asking my husband (who’d seen it before) what was going on because nothing made much sense to me. I feel like they rarely explained anything.
There’s a big, eye roll-inducing coincidence that saves a character’s life & I can’t get over it because it was so stupidly unrealistic.
Good Stuff:
I liked the theme of it, the ideas that it played around with. It’s the movie’s one saving grace. To defeat “wolves,” does one need to become a wolf? And if one becomes a wolf, how far is too far to take it? It was an interesting insight into the kind of damage that battling against crime can do to a person’s psyche.
The cameos (Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Terry Crews) were fun.
About the Performance:
One of my most unpopular opinions in life is that I don’t care for Denzel Washington as an actor. Something about him bugs me, and I think he’s a bit of a scenery chewer. I also don’t tend to care for the types of movies he chooses to make. I had a hard time picking a film for him & wasn’t looking forward to watching this. That being said, I thought he was very good in it. I completely loathed his character, which I think was the point. However, I did feel that he fell into scenery chewing toward the end.
Other performances of Washington’s I’ve reviewed: Inside Man.
The Verdict:
Originally, I chose this film because it’s one of the ones Washington won an Oscar for, but I wasn’t particularly interested in it. So I decided to watch “Malcolm X” instead. After I got it from the library, though, I realized that it’s nearly 3.5 hours long, which was a firm “no” for me, so I went back to this. Everyone raves about this film, so I figured I would probably like it, despite my instincts. I was wrong. I didn’t like it at all. Alonzo is an asshole. Jake is whiny and annoying. Nothing makes any sense. The female nudity is ridiculously gratuitous. And it’s so slow! It’s supposed to be the longest day of Jake’s life, felt more like the longest day of my life. Just boo. Not my cup of tea for sure.
I give it 2.75 stars.
2 comments:
It's 2001. My fellow park ranger Joel and I have met up to watch this film at the fancy new theater that was charging $10 for an evening show. We watch the film. Afterward, while discussing the movie as we wait for the train I say, somewhat quietly, "I think maybe Denzel Washington doesn't do it for me?"
So I'm right there with you. I think he's fairly flat, until the drama starts happening. And even then I don't love him. I get the same remote feeling with him that I get with Nicole Kidman.
I think I've only seen his son John David Washington in BlackKklansman, but he's actually fun to watch.
I feel like maybe I would like Denzel in Philadelphia? I don't know.
I did enjoy the podcast Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time, Period. But Stitcher has hidden it behind a paywall, alas.
I remember liking the movie Philadelphia but don't recall feeling one way or another about Denzel in it. I've avoided ever watching it again because it's depressing & brings back unpleasant memories of the AIDS crisis. :(
I'm glad I'm not alone in not "feeling" Denzel, since I think I'm riding the "not really into Meryl Streep" train alone.
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