Ebert & Roeper (2001) - Training Day, Shot in the Heart, Serendipity, Joy Ride

[@refinedsugar]

Wow Richard missed the boat on Training Day!

[@jakeequality8065]

Training Day is a classic....

[@reneedennis2011]

Training Day and Joy Ride are good movies.

[@alexchernandez88]

Denzel as Alonzo Harris was one of his best performances

[@parapoliticos52]

2001, so close and so far away.

[@mattfulmer4243]

My dad knew Gary Gilmore when they were teenagers in Portland, OR. They did time together at MacLaren Reform School For Boys for stealing cars. When Norman Mailer was researching his book The Executioner"s Song, he flew to our house in California and used my Dad as his main source of information for that time period. They spent many a night drinking it up in San Francisco!

[@Xayjohns]

I love Denzel in "Training Day", but I don't think Ethan Hawke gets enough credit for his performance in that film. He got an Oscar nomination though, of course. He's to this what Jamie Foxx is to "Collateral".

[@stefanmovieflixtomasi]

Collateral is my favourite LA movie along with CRASH 2005

[@reneedennis2011]

Yup. I agree.

[@alexchernandez88]

@@stefanmovieflixtomasi collateral is a good LA movie but Heat is the best IMO

[@stefanmovieflixtomasi]

@@alexchernandez88 Heat is good 👍

[@Locadel2003]

Roger Ebert was probably the best movie critic on the planet. Because he liked Training Day & Joy ride and explained why they were good movies meanwhile Roeper was just disliking them for dumb reasons

[@daytripperhd]

Come on Rope. Training Day is highly entertaining.

[@FishFeelPain]

TY!

[@stefanmovieflixtomasi]

11:25 Serendipity is such a wonderful romantic comedy with John Cusack along with Must Love Dogs starring Diane Lane. Love the sarcasm at 13:09 LOL

[@markoportuondo7375]

Finally!! I see their Max Keeble review even if it was brief.

[@stefanmovieflixtomasi]

Underrated Disney movie. Ebert and Roeper also did a short one for See Spot Run. Max Keeble and See Spot Run are good Home Alone-style movies along with Snow Day

[@chadcrudup6944]

They both make good points about Training Day. I think the only way to enjoy it is if you watch it the way Ebert did, and don't take it seriously. That’s how I watched it, and that's why i gave it a marginal thumb up

[@andyshepard4309]

Roeper was actually on the nose with Serendipity imo. Which, considering the other two, is surprising

[@philipcalderon3208]

While Training Day is a Classic, I personally think it’s not for everyone.

[@JazzyUte]

I think what makes Training Day work is that if you go in blind, you are left questioning Alonzo similarly to how Jake questioned him. When I first saw it, I didn't know Denzel was playing the bad guy here. I thought he'd be playing the morally ambiguous action cop that Hollywood loved in the 80s and 90s. So, when he's pulling his stunts, I'm left thinking, 'wait ... this isn't right ... where is this going ... how can he justify this.' Credit to Denzel because he played the role perfectly. Charismatic and at times sympathetic. But when it flips at Roger's place, and it becomes clear the moral ambiguity doesn't exist, Denzel is just dirty, you're left wondering what will happen next. Will Jake give in and go with Denzel or something more sinister? But what makes the movie work is that in the end, when it all comes together, you realize this was Alonzo's plan all along. He had a bounty on his head and a new guy starting. What better way to collect the money than forcing the new guy to being a willing accomplice? He busts Blue (Snoop) to get info on Sandman. He fakes a warrant to get into Sandman's house, where he steals $40,000. Why? Because he needs to buy a warrant to take out Roger. So, he meets with the Three Wise Men and pays for a warrant. Why Roger? Because he's got a cool four million stashed away and Alonzo can use that to remove the hit on his head. But he's not dumb. He can't have internal affairs sniffing around him or his boys - so, what better way than to have the new guy be the one who shoots Roger? He has to go along with it because Jake smoked PCP earlier in the day and when they piss test him and see he had drugs in his system, he's cooked. Even if he doesn't shoot Roger, the rest of the crew say he did. Jake is in a pinch...and that's the beauty of the movie because it now opens itself up to interpretation. Was Alonzo looking to take out Jake all along? Or was he testing Jake to see if he'd go along with him and he'd be able to add him to the crew? I think Alonzo always had the stop at Smiley's planned, regardless how Jake reacted because that was one big loose end he couldn't risk leaving. But regardless, it's deeper than it feels at the time you're watching it ...until everything comes together at the end.

[@TobyNo1Awesomeness]

If ever there would be a movie to unite agreement between Ebert and Roeper in this episode, I did not think it would be Max Keeble's Big Move

[@stefanmovieflixtomasi]

This is not only the short review they’ve done. The same also went for See Spot Run

[@jbstrevel94]

I was 6 when I saw Max Keeble’s Big Move. Loved it. Still one of my favorites from my childhood.

[@TobyNo1Awesomeness]

@@jbstrevel94 I wasn't even born when it released, however, upon coming across it in my teenage years, I actually rlly enjoyed it and thought it was a good movie

[@stefanmovieflixtomasi]

@@jbstrevel94my childhood as well. Such a devoted Home Alone-style movie

[@maxe.miller6301]

Roeper was expecting Serpico. This movie was going for a tone and feel and nailed it. Roger saw it, people saw it, the Academy saw it. Roper is a doper

[@TheNameisPlissken1981]

Wow. Richard is a little testy with Roger in this episode. I wonder what was going on with their relationship at this point? It reminds me of the few times Roger use to act the same way towards Gene.

[@Maniac1607]

Roeper was right about "Joy Ride" pushing the bounds of credibility. He knows the name of LeeLee's character when he makes that phone call to their hotel. He was like Jason without the hockey mask.

[@stefanmovieflixtomasi]

A better road thriller than Joy Ride that I recommend is Breakdown with Kurt Russell

[@anthonyperrone6008]

Hey Roeper!!!! Ever get your shit pushed in!!!

[@ezmony6950]

Man Roeper went full Karen on Training Day,Thank Christ Roger was still around to prove him wrong.

[@jstewlly4747]

The reason Training Day is great is only and i Mean ONLY BEACUSE OF Denzel!!! Im dead serious his improvisation is amazing and menacing its all Denzel nothing else

[@reneperez7903]

Training Day 👍⭐️⭐️⭐️ & a half out of 4 Joy Ride 👍 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 4 Serendipity 👎⭐️⭐️

[@simonpsychosis2812]

I'm sorry, but RR is WAY OFF on Training Day.

[@chadcrudup2088]

Don't apologize for your opinion.

[@stephensandridge3784]

Biggest L take on Training Day I've ever heard.

[@SeveredLegs]

I loooooove Denzel Washington. But to think he won the Oscar over Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind" is quite a travesty. Crowe played a young man succumbing to mental illness, getting lost in an alternate world, loses to a psycho cop movie. Meeehhhhhh.

[@stefanmovieflixtomasi]

Also, 6 years later, Washington and Crowe paired up in the underrated crime drama American Gangster from Imagine Entertainment and director Ridley Scott of GI Jane, Hannibal, Alien & Gladiator franchise

[@brizzoke]

Denzel acknowledged the politics of the Academy. He didn’t think Training Day was his best work, but felt like he deserved an Oscar - probably for Hurricane the year before and for Malcolm X in ‘92. He said also that Scent of a Woman wasn’t Al Pacino’s best work, but he voted for him that year.

[@SeveredLegs]

@@brizzoke Good data, not surprised he handled it in a classy way. And yes, Al Pacino's work in Scent of a Woman was probably more the 'lifetime achievement' variety.

[@stefanmovieflixtomasi]

@@brizzokeScent of a Woman is good but his only good to okay movie is Two for the Money with Matthew McConaughey

[@colinprice7964]

Please point out to me why Joy Ride is a slasher movie. Roeper was WAY off.

[@CR055FIRE]

if the woman in serendipity was black Ebert would have given it thumbs up

[@paulzenco6182]

I agree with Roeper. I didn t buy for one minute Denzel s character. Too unrealistic for me was Training Day and Denzel overacted to death.

[@masterelmstreet5886]

WRONG

[@daytripperhd]

I will say that SOME of the acting in Training day is bad. but NOT from the two main characters

[@doddsino]

And I wonder why Roeper never succeeded Ebert... it's because of idiocies like this. Okay, you don't like Training Day because you think it lays it on a little thick...fine... whatever. But you don't like Joy Ride? You're looking for implausiblities in a thriller? What a complete buffoon... can't even enjoy a fun movie.

[@aliali-ce3yf]

Training Day has some nice moments , but overall not a great film

[@thekingofmovies193]

I get where you're coming from. Although, I really like it just based on the performances of Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke.

[@stefanmovieflixtomasi]

@@thekingofmovies193I prefer Brooklyn’s Finest which came out a few years later

[@chadcrudup2088]

@@thekingofmovies193 Two questions: 1. How did you get to be The King of Movies? 2. What happened to the first 192 Kings of Movies?

[@thekingofmovies193]

@chadcrudup2088 to answer your questions, 1. The name is just a nickname that I earned from my friends because I love and talk about movies too much. And 2. You're guess is as good as mine, pal. Lol

[@chadcrudup2088]

@@thekingofmovies193 Fair enough! I love movies too.