areatw Shot documentary style, 'End of Watch' is a fascinating and insightful police drama. The film benefits from two brilliant lead performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña, who bring energy and personality to their roles as officers Taylor & Zavala. 'What the film lacks in term of plot development it more than makes up for in entertainment value, with some intense action scenes, genuinely funny moments and a great script.Part of the reason the ending is so hard-hitting is because it's easy for the audience to build a connection with the two officers. They are both realistic and relatable characters and, by the time the end of the film comes about, it feels like you know them personally. 'End of Watch' is a great film, both an intense action drama and a realistic and fascinating insight into daily life of a police officer.

seymourblack-1 Instead of relying on an orthodox plot-driven piece to illustrate just how challenging it is to police South Central Los Angeles, this crime drama focuses on the work of a couple of young, honest LAPD officers who're routinely thrown into situations that are extremely dangerous, unpredictable and potentially life-threatening. The cops in question are Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Miguel "Mike" Zavala (Michael Pena) who firmly believe that they "get involved in more capers in one deployment period than most cops see in their entire careers".In their work, the threat of violence is ever-present with even the most routine-sounding call-outs (e.g. a noise complaint or a missing person report) providing no room for complacency and events like a car chase almost inevitably ending in a shootout. Another type of danger they encounter is seen when they arrive at the scene of a well advanced house fire with no fire fighters in attendance and kids trapped inside the building. The extreme bravery that they display in going into the house and successfully rescuing the children is then fully recognised when they're both awarded the prestigious "Medal of Valor". Not all their endeavours, however, lead to such positive outcomes and when they unwittingly start to disrupt the activities of a ruthless Mexican drug cartel who are in the process of spreading their influence into South Central; contract killers are quickly hired to eliminate them.Taylor and Zavala's professional partnership and personal friendship were both well established long before they're first seen on-screen and their interactions clearly display how unshakably loyal they are to each other and how readily they would trust each other with their lives. As well as sharing a great deal of banter, they also discuss their personal lives and challenge each other's views on how they conduct their relationships. Taylor who's had a large number of short-term relationships has recently met Janet (Anna Kendrick) and Zavala is happily married to Gabby (Natalie Martinez) who's pregnant with their first child.Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena are both outstanding in their roles which provide a marvellous insight into the type of people who put their lives on the line every time they go out to work. Whilst the dangers they confront provide the movie with most of its tension, there are also many lighter moments which show another side of their personalities and Brian and Janet's moves when they dance along to "Push It" by Salt 'N' Pepa are a lot of fun to watch. Taylor delivers the movie's opening narration which includes the line " behind my badge is a heart like yours" and Gyllenhaal and Pena's performances leave no doubt that this is indeed true of the courageous tough guys that they play."End of Watch" is gritty, action-packed and presented in documentary-style with the events on-screen being seen from multiple viewpoints by courtesy of a whole variety of different cameras (e.g. a police dash cam, a camcorder carried by Taylor and cameras attached to the cops' uniforms ). This treatment is highly effective in enhancing the immediacy, edginess and excitement of what's seen during the episodic accounts of the cops' activities and the movie's excellent soundtrack also complements its style perfectly with Public Enemy's "Harder Than You Think" providing a real high point. Most people will be pleasantly surprised to find how engaged they become with Taylor and Zavala as characters and how much more substance, poignancy and humanity is seen here, compared to most cop movies.

reedwilson-22686 End of Watch provides the viewer with a great historical background on the issues facing our nation with drug violence, and how it is a much larger world once you have entered it. The violence really adds on to the extreme suspense. As the two cops enter this larger war, their lives are put into extreme danger. The Movie is nearly perfect, but the ending sorta saddens the movie, which to me hurts the overall rating to me. Other than that, it is an excellent film that gives the viewer background on the current event facing our planet!

runamokprods Interesting, moving, tense if occasionally uneven mix of very rough, hand-held visual style, improvisational feeling acting, and occasionally much more conventional plot turns. This study of two slightly gonzo, gung-ho, but basically righteous cops is alternately deeply engrossing and affecting, and occasionally frustrating. When it all works, it feels about as real as any police drama I've ever seen. When it gets in it's own way, it's annoying-- as when the camera-work becomes so self-conscious that you start thinking about it (Why do so many of the characters just happen to have cameras? Why are many of the shots from angles that could never be from a home video camera, if this is following a "found video" conceit?). Or when the acting occasionally stops feeling real and suddenly comes off as self-conscious improv. Or when the villains start seeming more like cartoons. Or when our heroes our in firefights that look real, but follow Hollywood rules of logic as to how they turn out. Then the film is maddening, because it's SO good when it's on target. Very worth seeing, and far more interesting than most of what comes out of Hollywood. It only grew on a 2nd viewing. It had all the same flaws, but somehow they seemed easier to forgive in light of how much was excellent and strong.