End of Watch (2012)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Excellent updating of the buddy-cop movie has two men (Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena) working the dangerous section of Los Angeles where a Mexican drug lord puts a hit out on their lives after they bust up a major crime scene. END OF WATCH comes from writer-director David Ayer who does an extremely good job at re-doing a genre that has pretty much been done to death over the past couple decades. Like many horror films that got watered down, they quickly turned over to the "found footage" genre and this managed to put some new life in familiar stories. The same is true here and while it's not really a found footage picture, one subplot has the Gyllenhaal character in a film school where he puts some cameras on himself and his partner so that they can capture live video. Another technique used is simply letting us see the video footage from the car's camera and this here really puts you right on the front line and makes you feel like you're in the car and along for the ride. END OF WATCH works so well because it really does make you feel as if you're riding along with these guys and you really get a great idea of what a partnership between these men is. The film does a very good job at building up suspense and especially during the finale, which will have you on the edge of your seat. Gyllenhaal turns in another respectable performance as does Pena. It's almost hard calling them performances because the way the film is shot it seems more raw, live video instead of something with a camera crew and various takes. You really do feel as if you're watching real footage and I think the greatness of the two performances come from how they act and re-act towards the situations, places and their moods. Natalie Martinez, Anna Kendrick and James FitzSimons also stand out. I'm sure many people see this as yet another cop movie and they might stay away but it would really be their loss. I'm not going to say this is a masterpiece but it's a very effective movie that's about as raw as they get.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Excellent updating of the buddy-cop movie has two men (Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena) working the dangerous section of Los Angeles where a Mexican drug lord puts a hit out on their lives after they bust up a major crime scene. END OF WATCH comes from writer-director David Ayer who does an extremely good job at re-doing a genre that has pretty much been done to death over the past couple decades. Like many horror films that got watered down, they quickly turned over to the "found footage" genre and this managed to put some new life in familiar stories. The same is true here and while it's not really a found footage picture, one subplot has the Gyllenhaal character in a film school where he puts some cameras on himself and his partner so that they can capture live video. Another technique used is simply letting us see the video footage from the car's camera and this here really puts you right on the front line and makes you feel like you're in the car and along for the ride. END OF WATCH works so well because it really does make you feel as if you're riding along with these guys and you really get a great idea of what a partnership between these men is. The film does a very good job at building up suspense and especially during the finale, which will have you on the edge of your seat. Gyllenhaal turns in another respectable performance as does Pena. It's almost hard calling them performances because the way the film is shot it seems more raw, live video instead of something with a camera crew and various takes. You really do feel as if you're watching real footage and I think the greatness of the two performances come from how they act and re-act towards the situations, places and their moods. Natalie Martinez, Anna Kendrick and James FitzSimons also stand out. I'm sure many people see this as yet another cop movie and they might stay away but it would really be their loss. I'm not going to say this is a masterpiece but it's a very effective movie that's about as raw as they get.