Training Day is a film about Jake Hoyt, a police officer who wants to join the Anti-Narcotics Department of the LAPD. However, for him to be integrated into the department, he is assigned to Alonzo Harris, an experienced narcotics officer who is to train him for 24 hours (Silver and Newmyer, 2001). The movie exposes the unethical and crooked tactics and techniques that a number of police officers use to enforce the law, while trying to attain private paybacks by any means necessary. Thus, Harris applies his no cling to illegal law enforcement techniques to Jake in his operations in the narcotic business. With time, Jake learns that Harris owes a Russian mob one million dollars that has to be paid by midnight. When they storm into his friend’s house with four other officers, Harris takes one million dollars out of the four million that they manage to find. To cover up their tracks, they kill his friend and set up the scene to look as if it was Harris’ friend who shot at them first. In addition, when they are later surrounded by barrio gang members Harris makes an offer to the gang members to kill Jake in exchange for money (Silver and Newmyer, 2001).
Strengths
The greatest strength of the movie is Harris underworld operations, which reveals various tactics conducted by real life officers. Harris thrives by tracking down criminals to rip them off their gains for himself. Furthermore, Harris uses any means necessary to reap the rewards no matter what. For instance, he kills his former colleague now a criminal so that he could get the million dollars and then present it as a cover up through creating a fraudulent crime scene. Jake is not in a position to deny this and win since the weapon that was used was his, and the other four members are willing to testify in support of Harris account of events.
The deceptive character of Alonzo Harris has been used to justify the self-righteous procedure of corruption by bringing out clearly the message portrayed in the movie as he unleashes his evil face with fearlessness and vehemence deception, violence and language. The movie connects its viewers with the underbelly of most cities, while portraying the fragile, but the thin line involving those seeking to enforce the law, and those individuals who break it (Inciardi, 2010).
With a focus on human nature, the film focuses on the decisions that individuals make with regards to ethics and morals in the course of their work. Hence, the outcome is a distinction without compromise (locker & Katz, 2011). Moreover, Jake Hawke comes out with a clearly tuned performance that completely matches with Harris frightening volatility. Jake reveals how idealistic and socially just individuals can easily be swayed since he is entangled in a network of corruption, brutality, and twisted morals. Consequently, the combination of street vernacular under comparatively uncomplicated scenes, made the movie to be consistent from opening to the end. The persistent forward momentum of its key theme of police corruption really helped to intensify the scenes to incredible levels (lker & Katz, 2011).
Weaknesses
One key weakness of the movie is that the motivation behind Harris callousness is rather anemic or under-developed. The screenplay by acquiring some sense of quick-witted reality is instead formulaic (Lievrouw, 2011). Hence, the movie should begin on how the narcotics officers are trained in ethics, morality, and discipline, while showing how they advance across the ranks, as in based on what reasons exactly. There is also the lack of interaction between the officers, especially their real feelings about the narcotic world and the criminal they deal with. This does not exactly express the depth it requires to make it an emotionally involving movie. There ought to have been more incidents plus encounters with potential suspects, in order to observe whether Jake believes in proper policing and ethical practice. Thus, it is weak for subtlety with numerous plot holes. In addition, certain events happen which contradict previous events within the storyline. For instance, in the last fifteen minutes, there are inconsistencies in the storyline and which move against the stream of logic formed by the story plot (Inciardi, 2010).
Elements
The director and the screenwriter would have made their climax not to formulaic so that viewers would not be able to predict its outcome before watching the movie to the end (Lievrouw, 2011). Such a climax cannot bring out the right tonal ambiance when there is a lack of standout acting dexterity from its main cast. The conspicuous early departure to a high of violence disregards several looming truisms. For instance, a particular violent scene in the last phase coming from the Russian hit men, does not add to the movie overall theme of police corruption, greed and street injustices. This in the end alters the theme tremendously from a tense mood making to appear as some sort of a video game phase, which cannot be traced from the beginning (lker & Katz, 2011).
Law enforcement agencies like antinarcotics are key assets in terms of public security. Law enforcement officers need to behave as though they have been charged by the public to execute force as considered necessary in an effort to accomplish their duties and compulsion. Even though some serve and protect, others become greedy and misuse their positions for the sake of private motives plus desires through corruption. That is why society always has a negative perception of the police forces en bloc, especially due to rapacious policing (Inciardi, 2010). Inciardi asserts that police force abuse their spot for the intention of personal desires as well as ambitions, instead of protecting and helping.
References
Inciardi, J. A. (2010). Criminal Justice. New York: McGraw-Hill
lker, S. & Katz, C. M. (2011). The Police in America, an Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Lievrouw, L. (2011). Alternative and Activist New Media. New York: Polity
Silver, J. and Newmyer, R. (Producers). (2001). Training Day [Motion Picture]. Los Angeles, US.