Several critics are suggesting that with Training Day, Denzel Washington may be indirectly giving young actors some memorable training in their craft. Playing a bad guy for the first time, Washington gives what Washington Post writer Megan Rosenfeld calls a "masterly performance" and what Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal calls "the performance of the year." "He's positively riveting," comments Lou Lumenick in the New York Post. Elvis Mitchell in the New York Times writes that Washington's "powerhouse virtuosity will almost guarantee him an Oscar nomination." Only Geoff Pevere in the Toronto Star differs from his colleagues. Washington, he maintains, "no longer acts with other performers, he acts at them," and his character in the movie "feels about as 'street' as a Beverly Hills ghetto." While most of the reviews are filled with praise for the movie on almost every level, there are a number of other dissents. Carey Rickey in the Philadelphia Inquirer writes: "Training Day is difficult to swallow and harder still to stomach. It emphasizes the sensational rather than the ethical aspects of police corruption." Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times tags the following "footnote" onto his mostly positive review of the movie: "Will audiences accept this movie in the current climate, when cops and firemen are hailed as heroes? I think maybe so; I think by delaying the movie's opening two weeks, Warner Bros. sidestepped a potential backlash. And Denzel's performance is sure to generate strong word-of-mouth. Second question: It's been asked if violent movies will become rare in these sad days after the terrorism. The box-office performance of Training Day may provide the answer."
