Every year, multiple films are released that I hear enough
about to know that I don’t want to see it. Whether it’s in the casting, choice of
director, subject material, genre – whatever the case may be, I know my movie
tastes well enough to know that I’m not going to dig the flick.
Watching End of Watch
only confirms that I don’t know shit.
Now, for whatever reason, I decided to watch End of Watch last night. Maybe it was to
step away from all the heavy-handed Criterions I recently bought and venture
into something completely mindless. And about 30 minutes into the film, I
realized something startling: I was completely and unapologetically enthralled.
Watching Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña cruise the
streets busting up thugs, preventing murders, stopping the drug trade, and so
on, proved to be one of the most exciting movie viewing experiences I’ve had this
year. About 15 minutes later, I realized something else, this one even more
profound: End of Watch didn’t have a
plot in sight. It was strictly a character study, completely void of a three-act
structure. Sold.
I don’t want to give too much of the film away, but really,
there isn’t a whole hell of a lot too
give away. Gyllenhaal and Peña play partners of the law working South Central.
That’s it. Gyllenhaal’s character is taking a film class, so occasionally he
films episodes from his beat, but never once does End of Watch pretend to be a found footage film. Instead, the
footage from Gyllenhaal’s cameras only heightens or accentuates the narrative
footage of the film.
Aside from ballsy narrative devices, the movie is genuinely
tense, boasting solid acting from its two leads, along with great supporting
roles by Frank Grillo, David Harbour, Cody Horn and Anna Kendrick. There’s
really no other way for me to put it: this is a solid cop drama that
doesn’t for
a second disappoint or bore.
David Ayer has dedicated his career to depicting cops and
robbers in LA, writing scripts for The
Fast and the Furious, Training Day,
Dark Blue, and S.W.A.T., and directing the rather decent corrupt cop drama, Harsh Times. End of Watch is the best thing he’s done yet, and maybe this will
come back to bite me, but, for now, you can be damn sure I’ll watch whatever he
puts out next. A-
I was really surprised by this film as well. Everyone felt so real and human in it, and that was really highlighted in the wedding scene which was so realistic and awkward, just like every wedding ever.
ReplyDeleteI didn't find an opening for the wedding scene in my review but YES. Exactly. That dance he and Kendrick made up, and the way people weren't really into it... I've seen that so many times at weddings. The groom drinking too much, the best friend's wife saying inappropriate things - it was all perfect. This was definitely a real, human movie indeed.
DeleteI've been on the fence about seeing this movie. For one thing, I can't watch police procedurals with my husband. Being a cop, he spoils the movie by pointing out all the egregious mistakes in the presentation of police procedure. *LOL* For another thing, even to my unprofessional eye, these kinds of movies generally aren't well done. But since you described this as more of a character study, and gave it such a high rating, I am intrigued. Adding it to my watchlist.
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting about your husband's cop movie watching habits. I love that stuff. I'd love to know, for instance, the most accurate cop movie he's ever seen. Actually, that'd make a great top 10 list :)
DeleteI'm no expert, but from a film standpoint, End of Watch is incredible. Highly recommend it.
Hmmm ... y'know, I never thought to ask him that question. :-) I'll do that.
DeleteAnyhoo, I've read mixed reviews of this movie, but I'm willing to give it a go based on your recommendation, since you keep steering me toward such good movies. ;-)
I try!
DeleteI seriously think that'd make for a great list: the most accurate cop movies picked by a police officer. I once did a story about a 9/11 rescue worker, and we talked extensively about the most accurate New York City films. It was so fascinating to hear say which NYC movies were nonsense, and which were dead-on. (Taxi Driver, he said, is the most New York movie ever made.)
Eh, I think it would be wise to mention what really downgrades the movie severely, the gang-bangers in this movie are near self-parody awful... I was trying not to laugh at the sheer amount of f-bombs the leader was dropping in one sentence. They just seemed liked imitators of hard-core gangsters not the real-deal. The shaky cam in some parts, especially in the fire rescue, got to be migraine inducing. But yes Gyllenhaal and Pena are perfectly cast and do a fine job of presenting good non-dirty cops. And as far as I'm concerned anything with Kendrick in it, even in small parts, gets an automatic theater view for me, hell because of her I went to see Pitch Perfect...willingly.
ReplyDeleteI've actually covered gang warfare before, and I honestly thought the dialogue was accurate to a bangers' way of speaking. Now, granted, I've covered gangs in Washington DC and central Virginia, which are far from south central Los Angeles, but the amount of cursing was definitely on point for me. Whether that makes for believable film storytelling is another thing entirely. But I didn't really have problem with the words they used. Now, what I find really annoying is when a film depicts ethnic people within their culture, speaking English. That's a movie pet peeve of mine that almost all movies commit, so whatever. But there is no way four Spanish bangers would be cruising around speaking English to one another. Wouldn't happen.
DeleteShaky cam is something I rarely have a problem with, so I didn't mind it here at all. And yeah, cast was perfecto, no doubt.
I dunno, End of Watch really worked for me. Crazy.
Interesting -- I'd read that before, that some reviewers thought the gangbangers were portrayed badly. Just curious, Alex, when you say you've covered gangs, are you a journalist?
DeleteI am indeed! But don't get me wrong, I'm not the kind of journo who's embedded in Afghanistan covering the effects of war, or LA covering the cadence of gangbangers, but I have done a handful of stories on gangs and how the generational effects of poverty, debt, and racial inequality fuel and propel the gang mentality. Shit like that.
DeleteI'm the editor of a magazine now, and I don't get anywhere near those kinds of stories anymore.
Sorry, long explanation as to why I thought the language was appropriate in End of Watch haha. Also, I think it's worth mentioning that the moronic thugs in Killing Them Softly curse WAY more than the bangers in End of Watch. I just think it's how some people talk.
Hey listen I'm not saying that every gang-banger portrayed nowadays has to be Stringer-Bell... but I only ask that they be interesting. The gang members in E.O.W are completely just there to be shot at, and to shoot at the officers (pretty badly at that, I mean come-on four oozes firing at the cops and NOTHING hits them... why did this suddenly turn into Die-Hard?) they take away more time from the partner dynamic between the two cops whenever the gang members are given screen-time. And they just happen to be filming everything too... right.
DeleteAnyway, I would've loved to be a journalist covering the topics you did. Are there any articles online that you have written about the subject of gang-violence?
Oh shit, that Stringer Bell comment made me laugh my ass off. Yo String!
DeleteOkay, the bit about the bangers shooting at the cops with oozes, and missing... I'm with you 100% on that. Even I was like, "Oh... really?"
You just brought up a very sore subject. Sigh. The first major newspaper I worked for was eventually sold to another newspaper, and about a year after the merger, the original newspaper's website was completely deleted. And, because I was young and dumb, I saved very very few hard copies of that newspaper, so, essentially, two years worth of work is completely gone. Fucking sucks.
Man that bites, having recently been let go from work this year I know the feeling of doing a lot of hard work for awhile and then having nothing to show for it... only thing to do is to learn for it. It still absolutely sucks.
DeleteShit man, sorry you were let go. Absolutely sucks indeed. The fact that I never went back and printed out those articles of mine... I don't know, it just never occurred to me. Stupid.
DeleteI'm sorry about your articles, Alex. That sucks. Have you checked with local libraries, just to see if they know of any copies of old editions of the newspaper that may have been saved, in any form?
DeleteIt's awesome that you're the editor of a magazine.
I am sure gangbangers curse plenty, and so do cops for that matter. When a group of police officers get together, it's like being in a Tarantino movie. Trust me on this.
Hmm, I never even thought to check with the library, that's a really good idea! I don't live in that town anymore, but I should definitely pop in and check sometime.
DeleteHa, love the cop/QT comparison. I've done several ride alongs with police officers and, yeah, it can be... interesting.
Great review, I thought the movie was excellent. The chemistry of the cast and in particular Pena & Gyllenhaal was as real as any I can remember. Pena in particular was outstanding, extremely believable.
ReplyDeleteNice man, glad you dug the flick and performances as much as I did. This could easily end of being the biggest surprise of the year for me.
DeleteNice review. I didn't love the film, but the the performances make it a must-see.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff. I definitely agree that the performances were rockin'.
DeleteYes! It's good to see others get this film. I read a lot of "professional" reviews that either didn't get the movie or didn't actually watch it. I think the wedding thing has been brought up in the comments already but for me (as mentioned in my review) the other best and most human moment was the car journey Gyllenhaal and Kendrick took - just perfect.
ReplyDeleteOh that was a great little moment between them indeed. Believe me, no one was more surprised than me that I really enjoyed this film. It worked on so many levels, a great surprise.
DeleteDo you ever get that feeling of being unable to stop yourself from grinning whilst watching something? It rarely happens for me, my movie enjoyment face is usually more intense, but watching the two of them in this was one of those moments. My face hurt from smiling so much.
DeleteThat's like me during one of the rehearsal dance scenes in Saturday Night Fever. It's just so... marvelous.
DeleteOh yes, if ever there was a movie I was incredibly judgemental about before seeing it was SNF. Man I am happy to eat every single one of those negative words because that movie is so good and I'm sure it's got several of those face hurting moments. I blame Grease by the way, just as way of explanation for the naive and incorrect dismissal of another Travolta dancing movie.
DeleteHa, fair enough. It's actually quite fascinating that he made such wildly different movies (with such similar themes) only one year apart. SNF, man... shit rocks.
DeleteDid you ever see Staying Alive? I feel like I saw it and was mega disappointed but there's a chance I just read that I would be disappointed because I can't remember anything from it at all.
DeleteI've never been able to bring myself to watch that. I've heard it is atrocious.
DeleteYeah. Sequels man! Coming soon, End of Watch 2: Watch Harder
DeleteOh shit, that was the funniest thing I've heard all week. Epic!
DeleteI watched this back in September and didn't knew what to think of it in the end. On the one hand, I liked the realistic feel of it and the easy going dialogue between Gyllenhaal and Pena, but on the other hand I absolutely hated the Latin gang-bangers (especially the woman) and some of the shooting scenes (they should have been dead 100 times in real life if that many bullets were fired at them, especially in the last part of the film). Good film, but I still don't know how to rate it! You were right in saying, in a different post, that 2012 is the year of the Enigma film :)
ReplyDeleteHa, it is indeed isn't it!? The one issue I had with this film, was, yeah, the extreme amount of shooting that went on during that final scene. Sure, there's a chance the cops wouldn't get hit, but it felt a little too James Bondish at that point. The only reason I didn't factor that critique in is because most every movie involving cops commits the same mistake, if that's what you want to call it. Oh well!
DeleteNice review. I didn't like this as much as you did, but it was still enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI was stunned by how much I liked this. Blew me away. Thanks for reading!
DeleteAs always you write the most great reviews .I just started following your blog and now I am reading it all the time.I just saw End of Watch and was so impressed I thought that can't be right .
ReplyDeleteI am too late I think , but I have to say I felt exactly like you which kept me from watching this movie until today , I finally turn it on randomly and it turns out be a great experience .
With a constant sense of impending doom this movie made me root like a child for the cops . Seriously I can't put my finger on it but what is so great about this movie ? And not able to figure this out leaves me in awe .
Wow, thanks so much for your kind words, they really mean a lot!
DeleteEnd of Watch was a film I didn't expect to like either, which is what made it so great. I thought it was a very effective police drama. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!
Very good film, thought the ending was sad but balanced the movie better then a tacked on happy ending, one of the few a would watch again.
ReplyDeleteYep, I totally agree. Thanks so much for the comment.
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