strangerdave-2

Well, I'm stuck at home during this cornavirus lockdown. Bored as hell. So I figured I'd give this thing a shot. I mean, with Al Pacino, how bad could it be? Little could I have suspected....

Right after they come up with a vaccine, or they just rip up the Constitution altogether - whichever they do first - they should find a way to prevent movies like this from being made. Or at least prevent national treasures like Pacino from appearing in them. Or at least give us a financial bailout for the 2 hours of our lives that were just wasted.

Being nominated for an Academy Award once meant something. While it didn't necessarily guarantee that a motion picture was excellent, you could be fairly certain that it would be at least entertaining; at least a little original, at least a respectable representative of its genre. WINNING an award meant that it was almost surely an instant classic.

My, how times have changed. This predictable, over-the-top, been-there- seen-that police "thriller" is SO exaggerated in its character stereotypes, action scenes, plot lines, and situational crises that it borders on camp. Maybe that's what the makers of this dreadful garbage had in mind when they slapped it together. If so, they failed, but not nearly as badly as if being campy wasn't the intent. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't.

Probably the best that can be said for Training Day is that it isn't quite as execrable as some other cop movies that have come down the pike in recent years. (Take Takers. Please.) But it's among the worst I've ever had the displeasure to sit through. Two thumbs down. I'd give it more, but I only have two thumbs.