A Terrific Urban 'Affidavit'
This is a rather entertaining modern realism type gritty street-crime film exploring a 'Batman and Robin' stylized approach to cop-with-a-rookie story.
Denzel Washington (Alonzo) is the seasoned and dangerous (and questionable) LA street-cop and narcotics-specialist (among other things), and he receives Ethan Hawke's character (Hoyt) as an idealistic but ethically-conscious rookie-cop driving the beat on his first day with Washington's character.
The two cops make for surprisingly good pedestrian crime-fighting chemistry, and when there is some rather high-level escalation regarding the motion of some seriously unethical black market money involving a staged killing, Hoyt must then decide if he wants to stay loyal to Alonzo or do the 'savior' thing on his first day and actually try to confront Alonzo and his bizarre vigilante-esque activities.
I prefer Training Day to Mean Streets in terms of 'pedestrian psychiatry' even if it's not as complex as Serpico in terms of civics corruption.
You really start to think: "Do LAPD officers driving the beat in the modern era think about terrible things like, 'This gang-banger clan inside this house may be holding some kind of cop-killing chainsaw!'?"
{paraphrased}
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ALONZO: These LA gangs make black holes like manholes.
HOYT: It's a sewer out here, huh?
ALONZO: Crack, crack-hos, machine-guns, syndicates, and strangers.
HOYT: You think I belong on this beat with you?
ALONZO: You might learn a thing or two from me, white-boy!
HOYT: Why do you confiscate the little scraps of marijuana from randoms?
ALONZO: Peeps have to know that cops will 'snatch' up anything dangerous.
HOYT: So cops have to be 'more dangerous' or 'ruthless'?
ALONZO: Would you rather have a housewife be terrified of a monster?
HOYT: Well, these criminals are not necessarily 'creatures/monsters.'
ALONZO: Are you sure?
HOYT: I guess not...
ALONZO: You'll get a medal, or you'll be the QB superstar of extreme action!
HOYT: Let's take it slow. We're not gods out here, Alonzo.
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😷