Director: David Ayers
Ok, I’ll
begin by asking a question…how is this movie not nominated for Best Picture and
at least two acting nominations at the 2012 Academy Awards? It makes no sense to me and it’s a good
example of why the Oscars have slowly dipped into a meaningless obscurity over
the years to the point where now it’s really just another fashion show for
Hollywood to roll out the red carpet…unbelievable really.
Over the
past 10 to 15 years, David Ayers has been writing and/or directing many police
dramas in the movies. I think it’s fair
to say he has been the largest contributor to this sub-genre during his
filmmaking days. He is the mind behind Training Day’s script, the little seen
but very good Kurt Russell film Dark Blue,
Keanu Reeves’ Street Kings, and now
he brings us the more intimate thriller End
of Watch. Casting Jake Gyllenhaal
and Michael Pena (both delivering Oscar worthy performances) as two LAPD patrolmen
who cover some of the nastiest parts of South Central but at their core are
just two average guys who get in as much trouble for childish jokes on other
cops as the recognition they receive for gutsy, sometimes almost reckless,
heroism in the line of duty. These guys
are good people and the movie takes the right amount of time letting you hear
the day-to-day discussions between the two to really get you into their heads
and understand that their hearts are in the right place. They have wives, children, and homes and just
happen to have a job that’s possibly more dangerous than they truly recognize.
This film
has two sides to it in my opinion. One
is the story of these two police brothers who are unfortunately in over their
heads with the level of danger they encounter on the daily streets of LA. The movie focuses on their relationship and
is all the better for it. The other side
is a portrait of the state of things in Los Angeles gang-life. The movie is to me like a modern day version
of Colors, which was a Robert Duvall & Sean Penn movie from back in the
late Eighties which was much heralded for bringing a focus to gang-life
terribleness. This film makes a direct
point to elaborate on the changing of the guard in LA to Mexican-led
gangs. The brutality of the gangs, with
direct relation to Mexican drug cartels, is more than just savage, it’s
inhumane and pure evil. There are
moments in the movie that are very disturbing and made my heart heavy at the
brutality that exists in this world right around the corner.
This is a
“smaller” movie that is purposefully made with a documentary filmmaking
style. Jake Gyllenhaal’s character is
obsessed with filming his daily routines for a project he is working on. Thus we get to ride along with them “Cops” style. This was the right move for the movie and
adds to the immediacy of the story. I
felt the execution of the script through the direction and acting from the two
stars delivered on a powerful story by Ayers.
This film was written and directed by David Ayers, so it’s primarily his
vision on screen. I think if this film
had been made 10 years ago it would have been loaded down with Academy
attention. Oh well, that doesn’t matter. The movie is tough to watch in places, but I
recommend it. At a point in my life, I
wanted to be a filmmaker and I can say with honesty that this is the kind of
movie I would have been proud to have made.
It’s not the harsh language used or the brutality that I liked (those
are unavoidable things due to the world the movie is set in) but the honest and
emotional impact that the movie delivers.
It leaves a mark. If you’re
thinking about it an hour after the movie is over, then you’ve succeeded. This is that kind of movie.
