End Of Watch(2012) Film Review

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Micheal Pena.

Director: David Ayer

Rated R For Strong Violence, Some Disturbing Images, Pervasive Language Including Sexual Refferences And Some Drug Use

421 Uses of The F-Word



2012 was one of the best years in film of the last 10 years. As I was taking a look back at all of the films that I saw of 2012, I was trying to decide what the absolute best was. Sure you had great films like Flight with Denzel Washington and Django Unchained Directed by Quentitn Tarantino. Those 2 films are in my top 3 best of he year, but no film spoke to me more in 2012 than End Of Watch. End Of Watch is written and Directed by David Ayer who wrote the 2001 film Training Day. The man knows how to make cop movies, but unlike Training Day and his other film Street Kings, this film is an accurate Portrayal of cops and their Daily Routine, whereas The other two films had some unrealistic action scenes and ludacris dialouge that prevented them from being as good as End Of Watch. The film is shot Documentary style which I think helps heighten the realism of the film.

Officer Brian Taylor(Jake Gyllenhaal) and his partner Officer Mike Zavala(Michael Pena) are just two everyday working cops who have been buddies for a few years. One night after a drive by shooting by a gang of hispanic members, the two decide to investigate. What they find is shocking, illegal weapons and drugs to boot, that slowly affect their personal lives. Brian is set to be married and Mike is set to have his first child. The next few days prove to be dangerous, shocking and frightning for the duo that they come across some of the most brutal and disgusting things that no cop should have to see.

The acting done by Gyllenhaal and Pena is so convincing that you feel like you have made a connection with them by the end of the film. As I was watching the film I didn't feel like I was watching Gyllenhaal and Pena act, I felt like I was right there in the police car interacting with them. The movie has such a powerful emotional effect that by the time the movies over, you're left asking "why can't I spend more time with them?" The film is smartly written and does not, at all once, talk down to it's viewers. The film is tensley filmed and suspensfully drawn out that by the time the movie has ended you will have fallen out of your seat from being on the edge too much.

I truly think that the film should have been nominated for a couple of Academy Awards this year. My nominations would have been for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actress for Anna Kendrick. The fact the film was not nominated for a single award I was infuriated. I'm not saying that all of the other films that were nominated were bad, but I am saying that they should give the smaller films a chance instead of bigger films like Life Of Pi, Lincoln and Argo. Do not, I repeat, do not miss out on this film. It was a gift from the Cinema Gods in 2012. I picked it as my absolute favorite film of 2012 and is now #5 on my top 10 all time favorite films. David Ayer, you have done well.