This week I watched Training Day on Region 2 DVD, via movietrak. Denzel Washington won the Oscar this year for his performance in this film as a corrupt narcotics cop who is intent on giving rookie Ethan Hawke a rude awakening on his first day in the job.

I was looking forward to a hip, sassy, intelligent cop movie but director Antoine Fuqua seemed intent from an early stage on delivering something different, a high-octane overblown 'bangs-per-buck' blockbuster in the Simpson/Bruckheimer mould.

Ultimately, the film treats us in much the same way as Washington's character treats Ethan Hawke: tries to seduce us into thinking it is hip and down with the streets; introduces us to its flashy friends (cameo roles from Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and, um, Macy Gray?!) in a further bid to impress, but rapidly loses its credibility when it becomes painfully apparent there is nothing of substance behind the empty boastful bluster and we've been taken for mugs.

The film is brash, well-acted and entertaining, and will prove popular with undiscerning action fans, but as the plot becomes more and more preposterous I found myself distracted by thoughts of better films that had dealt with similar stories/themes - like Mike Figgis' Internal Affairs or Dennis Hopper's Colours. In the last half hour there's nothing left to do but gawp at Washington showboating his way through the ridiculous finale. If it wasn't for the Oscar, it would have been a total waste of his energy.