End of Watch

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
End of Watch
Released 9/21/12, now in theaters

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena star in the cop thriller, End of Watch. The film is directed by David Ayer and is one of the bigger releases ending the 2012 Summer season. It’s a tall order to hope the season ends with the same bang that started it (The Avengers), but ,with the good press the movie has received so far, I had hopes it was in the ball park.

LAPD officers Brian Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Pena) are partners and the closest of friends. They’re jokesters and have a bit of maverick in them. It’s the latter that has earned them both respect and scorn within the department. It’s also the latter that could lead to their collective downfall.

One day, while investigating the South Central area, the partners pull over a man in a truck that has driven away from a residence they are watching. The driver draws his gun on them and is quickly subdued. After the arrest, they find an ornately decorated pistol, a gold plated AK-47 and a large amount of cash hidden and transported in a pot of soup. It’s later revealed the weapons and cash belong to a Mexican cartel operating in South Central. Strike one. Taylor convinces Zavala to return to the house they staked out some time later, and they arrest the man living inside the house after noticing suspicious behavior outside. Inside the house, they discover a stash of prisoners that are part of a human trafficking ring. This time, Federal agents, who were also watching the house and the man inside as a person of interest hoping he would lead them to the cartel, warn the two officers off indicating they could be painting targets on their backs. Strike two. The final straw for the cartel comes when Taylor and Zavala accidentally stumble upon decapitated bodies courtesy of the cartel in the home of an elderly woman. A bounty is placed on their heads which leads to the climactic shoot out the two friends may not survive.

There is good and bad to End of Watch. Actually, the bad isn’t so much bad as it is uneventful. Let’s start there. Much of the film feels like you’re watching an episode of “Cops.” Maybe that was intentional. Inherently, there’s nothing wrong with that except it doesn’t make for a particularly interesting 90 minutes. It feels like several random days in the life of these two officers that only begins to come together as a coherent story in the final couple of acts. Now the good. What does keep End of Watch going for much of the film are the two great performances by Gyllenhaal and Pena. Both give believable and heartfelt performances as two partners who are friends for life. They love each other as brothers and would die for each other. They have the banter and put downs that only the best of comrades could have (and get away with) and none of it feels forced or faked. The epilogue of Taylor and Zavala in the police car talking about an incident Zavala had with his future in-laws years ago is absolutely hilarious and one of the best parts of the movie.

End of Watch is decent viewing due to Gyllenhaal and Pena which is why I will give it a favorable review. They give two of the better performances I’ve seen this year even if most of the film wasn’t particularly memorable.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

*** 1/4 stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.