10 Movies That Gave Just The Right Amount Of Backstory

Denzel Washington’s Alonzo and Ethan Hawke’s Jake Hoyt are two more incredible characters to add into this list. Training Day offers audience members a false sense of security as we follow Hoyt, an up and coming cop trying to make detective. He trails behind Alonzo, veteran in the field but we soon find that Hoyt’s ride along is completely crooked.

There’s a sinister little side-plot that lurks behind Training Day that's not entirely clear until certain characters, such as Alonzo’s contacts, come into play. The more logical viewers would see the climax coming a mile off. Particularly as Alonzo uses restaurant menus as search warrants, works alongside criminals, shakes people down and doesn’t care unless he’s paid.

If anything, Training Day sits beside No Country For Old Men in that it's on the lesser side of backstory. We want to know more about Alonzo’s heinous antics and what it was that turned him dirty. However, as we discussed, if done properly, less is more and you always want to give the viewer something to think about.