Training Day

anksta

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I'm currently writing an article on the most undeserved oscars of all time (appreciate any recommendations by the way) and Denzel Washington winning in 2001 for Training Day is my current issue, did anyone like this?

I thought it was pretty cheesy, Denzel is an amazing actor but he was lacking to the say the least in this, would anyone agree with that? I'm not looking for material, I just thought it was a bad film, 2001 Oscars was the first Oscars after 9/11 and the first time a black actor and actress won both lead awards (Halle Berry also won) and I remember at the time a few whispers here and there about havng to award the oscars to minority actors.

I'm a bit wary of mentioning this as it is a bit controversial, does anyone think this is too controversial? I want to do a "who should have won" part to it as well and I'm going to say Will Smith in Ali as I think he genuinely deserved it for that role, the other nominees were:

Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind as John Forbes Nash, Jr.
* Sean Penn - I Am Sam as Sam Dawson
* Will Smith - Ali as Muhammad Ali
* Tom Wilkinson - In the Bedroom as Dr. Matthew Fowler

I want to state my case pretty convincingly, the article is impossible from an objective view point obviously so I'm never going to get universal agreement.

Anyway, just thought I'd see what people thought of Denzel in this film, I know this post doesn't make that much sense but I thought I'd ask anyway. Cheers
 
Great movie. Thought Denzel portrayed that character perfectly :).
I could think of others since 2000 who aren't deserving of the Oscar they won, but that's personal opinion.
 
I've been watching it this morning, as I've already watched one film this morning I'm reluctant to sit through 2 hours of a film I hated the first time round so I've just been skipping through to whole scenes where he is being developed and it's just cringe worthy. This famous crime writer and LAPD specialist said it was a waste of time and when you've seen things like the wire and get a real insight to what crime in the ghetto is actually like, you can't help but see his point.
 
molinari said:
Great movie. Thought Denzel portrayed that character perfectly :).
I could think of others since 2000 who aren't deserving of the Oscar they won, but that's personal opinion.
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go on, I'm looking at Sean Penn in Mystic River but the only contender I've got there is Bill Murray in Lost in Translation and I'm not really convinced he deserved it either as his character is only slightly different than the one he plays in every film.
 
Yeah, absolutely great film. Really loved it. Not seen it in a while now but I remember when I first watched I was quite young but still found it totally engrossing.

...much watch it again one of these days...If I can persuade the GF!:(
 
Stop skipping it. Your obviously not going to enjoy it. Watch it another day properly.

It's not about the characters in specific times in the film. It's about the journey, the slow progress of Ethan Hawke throughout the film.
 
I remember it as the turning point for Denzel Washington, think this was the first time he ditched the nice guy image and did something a little different. Correct me if i'm wrong, that's just how I remember it.
 
jackthezipper said:
Stop skipping it. Your obviously not going to enjoy it. Watch it another day properly.

It's not about the characters in specific times in the film. It's about the journey, the slow progress of Ethan Hawke throughout the film.
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yeah fair enough I appreciate Ethan Hawke, he does look quite good in the film, for such a normal pretty boy, budget Josh Hartnett his performance is good, he is very bedraggled and a little tormented.

But I'm sorry, Denzel Washington just cannot pull off that hardman unhinged role, Samuel L Jackson passed on it and even if he has become a bit of a joke lately and it might have just been him doing a Jules Winfield impression, you can't say Denzel isn't wearing a Samuel L costume in it.
 
SixTwoSix said:
I remember it as the turning point for Denzel Washington, think this was the first time he ditched the nice guy image and did something a little different. Correct me if i'm wrong, that's just how I remember it.
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sounds about right, pity he can't do it though
 
I disagree, and think it was a great performance; menacing, imposing and gritty. It was a big part of what made the film stand out. Having not seen all of the other nominated films though I'm not really in a strong position to compare though. That same year Chicago won best picture and I think there were more deserving films nominated.

Considering Will Smith was also nominated in that category that year I think it's a bit of a stretch to claim that the Oscars were doled out to minorities. I don't feel the Best Actress nominees were particularly strong that year either (or rather, they were decent performances in above average films but Monster's Ball stood out as a typical Academy pleaser). I doubt Renee Zellweger was even in the running.

If you can find evidence of people claiming there was bias though you could probably make something of it.

I'm struggling to think of individuals who were particularly undeserving of their award compared to their fellow nominees, possibly Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny (check out the controversy behind that one), though I'm to this day surprised that both Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption missed out to Forrest Gump in the Best Picture category. I'm just not a fan of that film, though arguably Tom Hanks gave a great performance. Gary Sinise was probably more deserving for Supporting Actor though.

Actually, now I've thought about it... Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love. Maybe I'm missing something but I think she's a particularly ordinary actress who received plaudits for an average role/performance.


Edit: Sorry, Chicago won the following year. My mistake.
 
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Belmit said:
I disagree, and think it was a great performance; menacing, imposing and gritty. It was a big part of what made the film stand out. Having not seen all of the other nominated films though I'm not really in a strong position to compare though. That same year Chicago won best picture and I think there were more deserving films nominated.

Considering Will Smith was also nominated in that category that year I think it's a bit of a stretch to claim that the Oscars were doled out to minorities. I don't feel the Best Actress nominees were particularly strong that year either (or rather, they were decent performances in above average films but Monster's Ball stood out as a typical Academy pleaser). I doubt Renee Zellweger was even in the running.

If you can find evidence of people claiming there was bias though you could probably make something of it.

I'm struggling to think of individuals who were particularly undeserving of their award compared to their fellow nominees, possibly Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny (check out the controversy behind that one), though I'm to this day surprised that both Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption missed out to Forrest Gump in the Best Picture category. I'm just not a fan of that film, though arguably Tom Hanks gave a great performance. Gary Sinise was probably more deserving for Supporting Actor though.

Actually, now I've thought about it... Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love. Maybe I'm missing something but I think she's a particularly ordinary actress who received plaudits for an average role/performance.


Edit: Sorry, Chicago won the following year. My mistake.
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cheers mate, I appreciate a lot of people must have liked it, it just stuck in my craw that's all I think that was one of the first films I saw with Denzel in, or at least aware that he was a big player in (I was only 15) and I hated him for a long while after, I do like him in Inside Man, still wouldn't say I'm a fan though.

I wanted to make the point that Will Smith should have won so it's not like I'm saying "oh Denzel only won because they needed a black actor" but I think I should probably just stay away from that altogether, Will Smith should have won though, his best performance by a mile.

I was weighing up Marisa Tomei but My Cousin Vinny is in my top 10 films ever as it is just hilarious but if anything Pesci should have won rather than Tomei so I'm leaving that out, I have Pulp Fiction over Forrest Gump although I do like that film, I also have Shakespeare in Love but Gwyneth Paltrow is a bit obvious so I have it as both best picture (over Saving Private Ryan) and best screenplay (over The Truman Show).

Will post my full list (and article) when I've got them definitely down, just gonna watch a couple more to judge whether or not they deserve it.

I'm just gonna narrow it down to the past 20 years as I haven't seen enough of the winners and contenders from much before that.
 
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