End of Watch (David Ayer)

[TGM]

END OF WATCH

Director: David Ayer

imdb

[TGM]

Ayers can't decide whether he is making a found footage / hand-held cam movie or a traditional Hollywood cop movie.

This is the movie's biggest issue, and one that was a constant distraction throughout the majority of the first half of the movie. After a while I was able to finally just go with it, and other than that, the movie is pretty decent.

[Morris Schæffer]

I'm glad this is getting good reviews because Ayer is doing Arnie's "Breacher" next!

[Ezee E]

This is a good freakin' movie. While it might be pointless to have the "footage" technique as its never answered as to why it's present, and the fact that it's basically forgotten about halfway through, there's not much else to be mum about. It's simply one of the better cop movies in a long time, maybe since Collateral?

The action is visceral, tough, and unpredictable. The chemistry between the two leads shows us perhaps top tier work between the two, and Ayer's casting of the villains is top-notch as usual. It's Ayers' best movie to date, and one of my faves of the year. I hope more see it.

[Pop Trash]

Friedkin mentioned on twitter/facebook that he thought it was great.

[Ezee E]

Friedkin mentioned on twitter/facebook that he thought it was great.

Cause it is.

[Morris Schæffer]

It's Ayers' best movie to date, and one of my faves of the year. I hope more see it.

I definitely will, but opens here december 5th.

[D_Davis]

I really liked this. Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic. I think he's one of the finest actors around today, and he totally nails this part.

There were a few moments that were clunky - a night-goggle, found-footage segment that was completely and totally out of place and poorly done; and a couple moments in which the plot connections were stretched a little thin - that stood out in context to all of the other moments which were generally great.

[EyesWideOpen]

This was surprisingly awesome.

[Saya]

This was amazing. Loved it.

[Boner M]

Really good stuff. Kinda wished the whole film was just real talk w/ Gyllenhaal and Pena, which is saying something since that's usually the weakest element of this genre.

[slqrick]

Got around to seeing this and really enjoyed it. The conversations in the car were the best part.

[Henry Gale]

Pretty much just going to echo what everyone said here, but also mention that beyond Gyllenhaal and Pena's impeccable chemistry, I thought the way the film handled the relationships between them and their significant others was surprisingly strong as well, and the way the film lets those stories unfold is more interesting to see than I would've expected going in.

The found footage angle does end up feeling pointless outside of its aesthetic value, almost as if it was something a previous draft made more useful that still got left in there over time even, even as it got less and less important to how Ayer actually ended up deciding to use mostly traditional coverage to tell the story.

But compared to other recent cop dramas, this easily finds itself as one of the best, maybe even at the very top.

***1/2 / B+

[transmogrifier]

61/100

Director: "I got a great idea. Let's follow a couple of cops who are actually somewhat interesting, and have them played by a couple of actors who sell the easy camaraderie perfectly, and follow them go about their jobs, and lets see them slowly, unknowingly sink into a mess which they will struggle to bullshit their way out of. It'll be loose, funny, tense, real - "

Exec: "Wait, did you just say 'real'? So, we'll do that found footage thing, right? Fuckin A!"

Director: "What? Why?.....What?"

Exec: "You know, cops have dashboard cameras, and gangs like to film their crimes, and you know, the lead character can be, I don't know, a film student in his spare time, or something. That's reality, man!"

Director: "But -"

Exec: "Yeah, let's do it. It'll be awesome. People love that shit"

Me: "Who the fuck is the creep filming them have sex? Whose holding the other cameras? How the fuck is the camera pointing in that direction? Why don't these gangsters get cameras that are better in low-light conditions? Wait, what, there's a camera on his fucking gun now!!?"

(I think I'm giving Ayer too much credit here, but I haven't seen anything else he has directed and so I'm going to be nice and assume he never considered totally fucking up the relationship between the story on screen and us poor saps trying to watch it)

[Irish]

Extraordinary movie. I hate shaky-cam, found footage stuff but it works here, giving the material an especially raw and immediate tone.

Not usually a fan of episodic stories either, but everything here is compelling. Ending felt a touch contrived but goddamn if I wasn't on the end of my seat.

[Skitch]

Really liked this, except for the

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Show Spoiler

unnecessary downer ending. I don't need a happy ending on every movie, but it felt forced here.

]

[MadMan]

Really good, maybe even great, movie. Although I will say that the film was really only at its best when it focused on the two cops. I didn't mind the whole found footage stuff.