Summary

• Denzel Washington delivers memorable quotes in Training Day that enhance the movie's gritty legacy.
• The film subverts the buddy cop genre, featuring a complex depiction of corruption and morality.
• Ethan Hawke shines alongside Washington, embodying the film's moral backbone in a thrilling and intense finale.

More than 20 years after its release, quotes from Training Day stick with audiences and add to the movie's legacy. Starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, Training Day exposes the dark side of the Los Angeles police force. The audience follows rookie cop Jake Hoyt (Hawke) on his first day as a narcotics officer with an experienced but dirty officer, Alonzo Harris (Washington). In the span of one day, the two experience the highs and lows of manipulating the law for Alonzo's benefit, only to reap the consequences in the end.

It is a gritty and brutal crime story, but the Training Day quotes stick out as much as the action. Directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer, Training Day remains a modern crime classic with some unforgettable dialogue. Much of it comes from Washington's magnetic performance as well as the mind games played between Alonzo and Jake. The movie is bursting with quotable lines that have stuck with fans over the years and helped to further cement its status as a thrilling and brilliant modern cop drama that hits hard.

20 "Boom!"

Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington)

Part of what keeps the audience on the edge of their seats throughout Training Day is that they're never quite sure what the unpredictable Alonzo is going to do next. It is part of the reason this is one of Denzel Washington's best movies, as the movie star doesn't typically villains, let alone terrifying ones. Alonzo will say or do anything he needs to get what he wants, which is something that he always keeps to himself.

Frequently throughout the movie, he will suddenly surprise Jake by loudly saying "Boom!". This is first seen when Alonzo and Jake meet and the veteran cop interrupts his rookie partner with this outburst to keep him on guard. It's a habit that's shared by Roger and it sums up his frighteningly explosive nature quite succinctly. While Alonzo es it off as a lesson about always being ready, there is a sense that it is something within him that he just has to let out.

Training Day was the first of five movies Denzel Washington has made with director Antoine Fuqua, his others being The Equalizer franchise and The Magnificent Seven.

19 "Didn't Know You Get Wet, Dog."

Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington)

It can be quite effective when "good guy" actors play villains in movies, throwing the audience off. A lot of people likely went into Training Day expecting Denzel Washington to be the heroic veteran cop, but it quickly becomes clear that Alonzo is going to be more dangerous to Jake than helpful. After pressuring Jake to smoke some weed, Alonzo reveals that what he actually smoked was P. Alonzo says it in a casual yet somewhat taunting way that begins to expose his true villainy.

It is a very early scene that showcases the gaslighting and manipulative nature of Alonzo as it relates to his new partner. His delivery suggests that he had no part in the decision and that Jake knew it was P the entire time. In reality, it was Alonzo pulling the strings and already setting Jake up to take the fall.

18 "Nobody Told You To Smoke That Thing. You Made The Decision. Live With Your Decision. Ain't Like I Put A Gun To Your Head."

Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington)

Jake is often forced to make tough decisions in Training Day as he goes back and forth deciding to act on his police academy training (which would get him killed) and acting on what Alonzo taught him. What's ironic, however, is Alonzo's assurance that he isn't putting a gun to his head. In reality, Alonzo bringing Jake along for all of this is putting a target and metaphorical gun to his head. Henceforth, every decision Jake makes is dictated by Alonzo's rhetoric and he has to live with it.

Alonzo is not just a corrupt cop who is willing to take down an innocent lawman in order to get what he wants; he also psychologically toys with Jake along the way. He acts as if it is Jake who made the mistake of smoking the P when Alonzo is fully aware that he forced him to do it as part of his plan. However, even knowing what Alonzo has planned for Jake, he refuses to take any blame.

17 "You've Gotta Hide That Love Deep Inside, You Understand?"

Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington)

One of the first pieces of advice Alonzo gives Jake on their long drive through LA seems like one of the most sincere. Noticing Jake's wedding ring, he advises him to take it off when at work, insisting that having such connections on a job like this is only a liability and could cause him to make the wrong choices. Alonzo's lack of empathy overall isn't a good aspect of his character, but lines like this remind the audience that, while Alonzo is a bad egg, he was born out of a situation that's already bad, independently of him.

Alonzo has been working the streets for years and understands the risks better than most. However, what might have started out as a hardened edge to protect himself has turned into a dangerous mindset that he can hand out justice as he sees fit.

16 "You Got To Control Your Smiles And Cries Because That's All You Have, And Nobody Can Take That Away From You."

Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke)

Training Day is something of an obscure buddy cop movie as it follows the familiar formula of a young cop and an older cop working together, but it subverts the genre by making them increasing enemies as the story goes along. While Alonzo is the wise veteran sharing his problematic words of wisdom throughout the movie, Jake has his own beliefs he shares as well.

He is exposed to the darkest aspects of humanity through Alonzo, but it doesn't turn him into the same cynical monster

Quite the opposite of Alonzo, Jake sees the humanity, the "smiles and cries", he has in himself as important as it is something that can't be taken away. In the end, he proves himself right as Alonzo is unable to extinguish that brightness in him. He is exposed to the darkest aspects of humanity through Alonzo, but it doesn't turn him into the same cynical monster. After everything he goes through, Jake still holds onto his sense of right and wrong.

15 "This S***'s Chess, It Ain't Checkers."

Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington)

Though there are endless lies in what Alonzo tells Jake throughout the movie, sometimes even those aspects can have some truth in them. While justifying his terrible behavior by saying that he does it in order to actually help the local community, he elaborates on how he thinks strategically. After murdering a drug dealer and taking his money, Alonzo insists he is opening Jake's eyes to the reality of the world and that seeing justice done is not as straightforward as he might have thought.

This is revealing as, of course, the hotheaded Alonzo is proven to be actually very cunning and indirect in his plotting. He doesn't go straight for what he wants and is always thinking several moves ahead. It might make him seem like a brilliant cop and mentor initially, but it's terrifying when it becomes clear these moves have trapped Jake in a seemingly inescapable situation.

14 "Life's A Trip, Qué No?"

Smiley (Cliff Curtis)

In a movie filled with tension, the sequence in which Jake is left alone with Smiley and his gang is a true nail-biting moment. Jake is left alone with some gang who have been hired by Alonzo to kill the young rookie, but he is saved from his grisly fate when Smiley, the leader of the gang , discovers that Jake helped his young cousin earlier in the day. After Jake narrowly escapes execution, Smiley attempts to brush off the terrifying ordeal with talk of it being "just business" and even seems amused by the strange coincidence.

Jake learns a lot about violent and ruthless personalities throughout his day and Smiley's ability to simply shrug off cold-blooded murder says a lot about the harsh reality of the criminal underworld. However, while Smiley sees it as a seemingly impossible twist of fate, it speaks to who Jake is as a cop. His dedication to doing the right thing saved his life, even from the corrupt evil of Alonzo.

13 "To Protect The Sheep You Gotta Catch The Wolf, And It Takes A Wolf To Catch A Wolf."

Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington)

Alonzo is one of the great movie villain protagonists, and while the extent of his villainy is shocking later on, he is very up-front about who he is. Alonzo is both a hero and a villain but has lost his sense of right and wrong after years on the police force. Jake learned how to be a police officer by the book, while Alonzo learned by the street and did anything to survive. Years of doing so blurred the line between cop and criminal.

Despite his wrongdoings, Alonzo throws Jake a valuable piece of advice when it comes to his job as a narcotics officer. Even though his entire day with Jake is a twisted plan for his own purposes, which includes killing Jake, he wants to show the young officer the reality of the world they are in. It is possible to see this line as Alonzo trying to justify himself and what he plans to do to Jake, convincing himself that getting his hands dirty is all part of the job.

12 "You're In The Office, Baby."

Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington)

One of the most iconic scenes from Training Day is in the beginning, which sets an ominous tone for the dangers Jake is going to experience and the unorthodox way Alonzo operates. When the duo steps into Alonzo's car (not from the LAPD motor lot), Jake is entering a world unknown to him. He asks whether they will be heading back to the office, but Alonzo insists with a foreboding smile that the car is the office.

Alonzo is not the kind of cop who sits behind a desk as he prefers to stalk the streets of the city, essentially the all-seeing eye whose presence demands fear and respect from the people of LA. Alonzo's "office" is riddled with crime as he hides behind the badge, making him seemingly invincible. Even before the extent of Alonzo's corruption is revealed, this line makes it clear that Jake is in store for a brutal lesson on modern policing.

11 "What A Day."

Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington)

Training Day is a hugely effective thrill ride because of the way it doesn't let the audience relax. The movie seems to jump from one harrowing situation to another with no time to breathe, and that is partially achieved thanks to it being set over the course of a single day. There are no flashbacks, preludes, or extended endings. Training Day is a rollercoaster from start to finish. After he is beaten in the end, Alonzo takes a moment to curse the events of the day.

Not only is this clever, but it masterfully shows how much can go wrong for someone like Alonzo. On the surface, he's a narcotics officer, but riding along with him for a day shows the dark and dirty underbelly of how things really get done. It is also a satisfying moment to see Alonzo watch it all slip away.