End of Watch

Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Miguel Zavala (Michael Pena) are close friends and LAPD partners. Together, they patrol dangerous neighborhoods in South Central. Though they are hard-charging in their pursuit of criminals, Zavala is a dedicated family man and Taylor, a Marine veteran, lightheartedly videotapes their antics for a college film class. But when they cross paths with an up and coming Latino gang, their entire world will change.

If a movie made within the past fifteen years concerns cops or pseudo cops in Los Angeles, there is a good chance that David Ayer (and/or James Ellroy) is attached to the project. It is not surprising to learn that Ayer wrote and directed End of Watch. What is surprising, however, is the extent to which he challenges and deconstructs much of his previous work.

Typical Ayer fare gives us some combination of the following: very dirty cops, shoot-outs, a white-Latino partnership, a disturbed veteran, relationship drama, gang bangers, betrayal, and a downer ending. Many of these elements are here albeit reconfigured in very different ways. In lieu of the typical morally ambiguous anti-heroes, Taylor and Zavala are presented as wise-cracking good guys who, while rather aggressive, are also believably professional (i.e. they don’t shake down dealers or stage shootings and cover them up). They are also committed to their respective women, work closely with fellow officers, and generally behave like people instead of genre stereotypes.

Much of what allows Ayer the liberty to break from his prior work is the pseudo-documentary style in which the film is shot. Several scenes are presented from the perspective of Taylor’s camera, which gives the proceedings a naturalistic feel. The recorded musings, jokes, and anecdotes between service calls – Gyllenhaal and Pena have a mostly convincing rapport – provides a point of contrast to the horrors of the job. There is no overbearing score or overly cinematic mis en scene to contend with, but you never do forget that you are watching a fictional movie.

Unfortunately, the idiosyncratic style takes its toll on the film’s mood and pacing. While the former effect is probably deliberate (in that life can turn brutal in a heartbeat), the latter is often cloying. As viewers, when we see the clogs of the plot turning, we want them to keep turning. Too often, End of Watch pauses mid-turn, digresses, and arbitrarily skips ahead in time. The title also makes one aspect of the ending a foregone conclusion.

Ayer and the two leads put in commendable work here, and the distinctive style easily separates End of Watch from other police/action fare. But in the end, the execution falls short of the audacity of the approach.

7.75/10