Training Day (2001)

ITV4, 11.15PM ★★★★

 Denzel Washington won the Best Actor Oscar for this thriller from The Fast and the Furious screenwriter David Ayer. And quite right too. He brings a tantalising ambiguity to his character, cop Alonzo Harris: is he a maverick who breaks the rules to get results, or do his ruthless actions mean that he’s effectively a criminal himself? Ethan Hawke is the police recruit to whom Harris is showing the ropes.