Smith

'Training Day,' 'Zoolander' are high points for Hollywood

Elliott Smith

Originally published Friday, March 29, 2002

It's always refreshing when you hit one of those streaks of good movie watching, when the choices you make pan out and help partially restore your faith in Hollywood.

After months of bad-movie viewing, even The Video Guy enjoys checking out a couple of solid flicks every so often. And so should you, because, given the sea of bad films sitting on video shelves, it's not always the easiest thing to do.

After years of playing saintly heroes and do-gooder role models, Denzel Washington finally stepped out of the box with TRAINING DAY (R) *** and earned some of the best notices of his career, and more importantly, an Oscar for his work.

It's hard to see how the Academy couldn't have awarded Washington -- he completely lives the role of dirty cop Alonzo, showing a level of duplicity, malice and evil never seen before in any of his prior roles.

The story revolves around naive cop Jake (Ethan Hawke) getting an opportunity to join Alonzo's elite Los Angeles narcotics unit. Jake essentially has a one-day audition with Alonzo to see if he's up to snuff in a world in which he has very little experience.

And so Alonzo throws Jake into the seedy L.A. underbelly, playing a devious mental and physical game with his protege that Jake slowly comes to realize isn't just about joining the team.

Washington delivers an electric performance, and to his credit, Hawke matches him in a less-showy role.

Yeah, the movie itself isn't exactly Oscar material, but the first three-fourths is a gritty look at what a lot of people perceive is how the police really act.

Unfortunately, the movie stumbles down the stretch, complete with a Hero Turns The Tide scene, in which Jake somehow gets an angry neighborhood on his side for no apparent reason except that the movie has to end soon.

Still, it's a good chance to see one of the finest actors of our generation on full display.

How long has it been since there was a really good comedy? For me, awhile. But that all changed with ZOOLANDER (PG-13) *** 1/2, arguably the funniest movie of 2001.

Ben Stiller wrote, directed and starred as clueless male model Derek Zoolander, whose patented "Blue Steel" facial expression has earned him countless accolades.

But his popularity is fading, given the rise of hot new model Hansel (Owen Wilson), leaving Zoolander on the fringe of the fashion world.

Zoolander then goes on a mission to find himself, which eventually turns into becoming a trained assassin for the evil fashion designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell).

"Zoolander" is just one of those movies that's so dumb, you can't help but laughing. Dozens of jabs at the fashion industry, wacky celebrity cameos and breakdance fighting? You can't go wrong with that.

Plus, Owen Wilson continues to be one of the funniest humans on the planet. That guy cracks me up.

Originally, this started as a skit for the VH1 Fashion Awards before Stiller expanded it into feature length, with great success. Now why can't the "Saturday Night Live" people do this?

In this era of high-concept movies, it's nice to see that a simple tale of a terrorizing trucker can raise the kind of thrills that JOY RIDE (R) *** does.

Paul Walker stars as a college freshman who ditches his plane ride home in order to buy a car and pick up an old friend (Leelee Sobieski), with whom he hopes to start a relationship.

On the way, he stops to pick up his ne'er-do-well brother (Steve Zahn) from a jail cell in Salt Lake City. The brothers decide that a CB radio will help pass the time, and they trick an unsuspecting trucker into a compromising situation.

From there, the trucker turns the tables, following the brothers every step of the way in order to exact his revenge. There's a slight level of implausibility here, but the picture moves quickly enough that you don't dwell on it.

And for once, the complicated testing process that movies must go through these days seems to work. On the DVD, you can look a four (!) different endings, including a 29-minute sequence that essentially rewrites the whole finale.

In the end, they made the right decision, keeping the level of tension shown throughout the film without copping to a "happy" ending.

Elliott Smith is a sportswriter for The Olympian by night and The Video Guy even later at night. Readers may send comments or suggestions to esmith@olympia.gannett.com.

The Video Guy needs your help!

The Video Guy wants you to help determine what movies I watch. Send in your requests, and some of the most popular or weird responses will be featured in an upcoming column. Want me to watch your favorite movie? Find out about a film you've been curious about? Suffer through the worst movie you've ever seen? Send your movie requests to esmith@olympia.gannett.com with the subject Video Requests.

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The Olympian Copyright 2002

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