End of Watch

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Anna Kendrick, America Ferrera, Cody Horn, Natalie Martinez
Directed by: David Ayer
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary:Two LA police officers (Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena) who are best friends fight crime on the streets while trying to establish lives outside of the force.

Review:

Tim: I was optimistic heading into this film. I really like both Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena. I love the idea of a documentary-style cop drama. The elements were all here for something really special. The movie itself delivers- to a certain extent. I certainly enjoyed End of Watch, but I wouldn't consider it a great movie. This is a good, competently made film, and it's worth seeing.

One of the coolest (and most problematic) aspects of the film is the documentary-style approach. We have a number of scenes showing Gyllenhaal's character filming various aspects of police life (apparently for some class he's taking or something?). Those scenes were cool, but we have even more scenes that can't be explained through any recording device means. This is one of the biggest problems of films like these- you state that it's a cop movie filmed in a documentary style, but besides Gyllenhaal, who else is filming? There's no explanation for much of the footage, and quite frankly, I found it problematic. I think you have to go all in or not at all. If this is a cop drama filmed documentary-style, then all the shots should be explained. You can't have some shots filmed by the characters, and other shots mysteriously filmed by no one involved in the cast.

Okay, that's enough complaining for a little while. I really like the idea of filming police officers in Los Angeles from the battlelines. The footage is gritty and realistic, and I loved that aspect of the film. You really felt like you were with these characters as they patrolled a particularly dangerous section of LA. The footage is exciting and enthralling. It really brought you into the action seen on screen.

I really enjoyed the cast. I'm a big Jake Gyllenhaal fan, and I thought he did a good job here. He has obviously gone through police training, and he is believable in this role. He has such a likable quality about him, and he worked well in this film. He makes the audience care about his character. I'm also a huge Michael Pena fan, and I loved him in this film. I really believe he's such an underrated actor, and I thought he turned in another good performance here. I have to say that the dynamic between Gyllenhaal and Pena is the main reason to see this film. These two actors had good chemistry on screen, and they were fun watching together. They really seemed like close friends, and their relationship is why this movie works. I will say that I felt like there was just far too much swearing in this movie. I know this movie uses the "F" word more than just about any movie out there. I admit that the swear words helped make this film feel realistic- real-life cops certainly swear quite a bit, but it was almost too much. I wish they had pulled back a little.

The supporting cast is fairly good, but I have to admit they only exist in the background. Anna Kendrick is a nice partner for Gyllenhaal, but her screen time was minimal. It was fun seeing America Ferrera and Cody Horn as two tough female cops, but I can't think of any memorable moments they had in the film. The supporting cast adds to the film, but this movie is completely about Gyllenhaal and Pena. Luckily, these two work so well together.

The script is good, but it had a few big flaws. I still have no idea what happened in the scene where Pena's character randomly decides to fight a suspect. I have no idea what this scene was trying to accomplish, and it just felt so out of place and odd. Do real cops take off their badges and duke it out with suspects while their buddies film them? It just felt like a moronic thing to do, especially with someone filming the whole thing (that would be evidence). I just felt like this was a major flaw of the film. I also thought that the story occasionally felt too Hollywood-ish. For example, our heroes keep pulling off all these unbelievable busts. At one point, they decide to lay low and take a call about an elderly woman who has been unresponsive. They show up, and lo and behold, the call leads them to another drug cartel-related crime. It just felt like too many events in the film were too scripted and convenient and undermined the "reality" of the whole film.

Overall, I did enjoy End of Watch. They don't make enough of these gritty, realistic cop movies. I loved the pairing of Gyllenhaal and Pena, and it was fun watching them interact on screen. This movie has a number of challenging flaws that detract from its overall quality, but as a whole, this is a good film. It's worth seeing, and I would certainly recommend it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: World Trade Center, Jarhead