Movie Review - End of Watch

End of Watch (2012)

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick, and Natalie Martinez

Directed by David Ayer

End of Watch is a perfectly acceptable realistic "buddy cop" movie about Brian and Mike (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) who work the crime-riddled streets of South Central LA.  As they go through their admittedly difficult and stressful days, they find time to joke around with one another and talk about their significant others -- Brian's got a serious girlfriend in Janet (Anna Kendrick) and Mike is married to Gabby (Natalie Martinez) and they have kids together with another on the way.  When the duo stumble across a human trafficking ring while out doing a routine check on an elderly woman, the Mexican gangs behind the ring are angered and vow to make Brian and Mike pay handily for simply doing their job.

Admittedly, the film is a bit gimmicky.  Brian is taking a college course on filmmaking and he decides to purchase some small cameras that he places in the cop car and on both his and Mike's uniforms in order to film a "day in the life" type documentary about South Central cops.  I actually would've been completely onboard with the concept had director and screenwriter David Ayer had the cojones to stick with it throughout the entirety of the film in a Blair Witch-ian way.  However, the film sometimes cuts to the Mexican gangs and then as it progresses and the action begins to kick up, it abandons the concept altogether at times.  This wasn't necessarily a detriment, but the lack of consistency was noticeable and a bit of a disappointment in terms of the concept.

This film garnered some surprisingly good reviews upon its release last fall and there was even a bit of Oscar buzz surrounding Michael Peña for his role, but for this reviewer, End of Watch didn't stand out in any significant way.  Everything about it was fine and, in fact, better than average, but I was never blown away by anything I was seeing in the acting, directing, or writing department.  This is likely one of the reasons it's taken me over a month to get this review up on the blog.  Despite the lack of anything negative to say about it, there was not a single thing about it that blew me over.  It's solid and you certainly shouldn't be disappointed should you decide to check it out, but I can't help but think End of Watch had a bit more potential than the director brought to it.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-