End of Watch (A-)

The ability of End of Watch to take what is essentially a simple story and make it such an emotional tribute to the police force lies with the engaging, genuine relationship between its central characters.

David Ayer writes two kind of movies: fast-paced action-comedies like The Fast and the Furious (the original) and dark, suspenseful cop dramas like Training Day. End of Watch is definitely one in the latter category. From the opening car chase, shot in near-total silence, the movie is gripping and burns with intensity. The story simply follows two Los Angeles police officers’ daily battles, both in the crime-ridden streets and their personal lives. The film is building up to a showdown with a brutal, new drug cartel that treats LA like territory to be conquered and the police like an opposing army; however, there is no one incident that triggers the feud, no personal connection between the gangsters and cops, and not even one character who can be deemed the head bad guy. This isn’t so much a cops-and-robbers adventure than a look at the ground troops in a war.

Ayer is less experienced as a director than as a writer, but it is his work on set that really shows. The two protagonists are played Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena, and Ayer makes every moment between the two so genuine that it is impossible not to care. The credit should also be given to the stars. Both are recognizable actors with several blockbusters to their names as well as some critically lauded work (Gyllenhaal got an Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain and Pena had juicy roles in World Trade Center and Crash), but neither are really considered Hollywood A-list. In End of Watch, they prove themselves as never before.

Many have criticized Ayer’s choice to shoot the movie in found footage format, something generally reserved for micro-budget horror fare like Paranormal Activity. I think it was a good choice--this is an intensely personal film and one that must truly absorb the audience, and by actually having the characters be the ones operating the camera, it does just that. However, there are moments where Ayer’s inexperience with the style shows: I am fairly certain that he knows the logistics of why cameras are placed where they are when they are and whether someone is holding them, but there are scenes where the audience member will become distracted trying to figure it out. These scenes are probably most jarring in the conversations between Pena and Gyllenhaal’s characters in the squad car, which are captured from possibly four different angles (how many cameras can these guys afford, and how much time did they spend setting them up in strategic locations?). The scenes where it is most comical are where the gangsters are shooting the action. Why would a career criminal take a camera to video-tape all his illegal activity? Isn’t it a lot of work holding a camera in one hand and positioning it at your target while you fire a gun with the other hand (at least the cops have theirs clipped to their pockets like pen protectors)? And why would Mexican gangsters who’s first language is obviously Spanish insist on speaking English with each other?
In the end, though, these are only minor complaints. The movie is riveting from beginning to end, and it is impossible not to get choked up at that final scene.
End of Watch is a powerful tribute to the police who risk their lives every day to keep our cities safe.