"End of Watch" is a police drama film written and directed by David Ayer, who has worked on a number of police-related movies in the past as either the writer, director, or both, including "S.W.A.T" and "Street Kings". The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena as two LAPD officers and focuses on their day-to-day work as police officers and their personal lives.
The film does not seem to know what it is in its method of filming. There are numerous times when the scene is shown through a multitude of different cameras, but then there are scenes where the angle would be impossible for there to be a camera. A scene I will use as an example is when the gang members are in their car. One gang member has a camera and is filming them, which we see the scene unfold through. However, when a character talks to them and the camera shows the gang member holding the video camera, there are no cameras in the car that would have gotten that video. The point I am making is that the film jumps between found-footage and then regular filming at random points in scenes, which gets frustrating.
The dialog in this movie has been praised by many, and while I can understand why so many people thought it was great, I thought at best it was mediocre. A lot of the street talk was cliché and stereotypical, as was the banter between the police officers, not Gyllenhaal and Pena, felt like it came from someone who didn't know how people joked around with one another. This is also one of only three movies, the other two being the 2005 "Assault on Precinct 13" and the recent movie "Sex Tape" where I have to complain about the swearing in the dialog. Now, I have no problem with swearing, but in this movie, I felt like it got worked into every other sentence because it was supposed to make the dialog feel more realistic. Now, to Ayer's credit, there are some scenes with very good use of dialog, especially at the funeral scene and the last scene of the movie. The single line used during the funeral said everything that needed to be said without going overboard, and the last scene of the movie felt like one person telling a funny story.
One thing I will give credit for was the acting in this movie. Gyllenhaal and Pena had very good chemistry and worked off of each other well. Anna Kendrick also did a very good job. I'm actually surprised none of these actors were nominated for Academy Awards for their work in this movie.
Even with the acting, though, the film is still bogged down with problems, deriving heavily from the camera work and dialog. The idea of following around two officers in their day-to-day lives including their police work and personal lives is an interesting idea, and I think it could be pulled off with a better script and less of the found- footage aspect of the camera work.
The film does not seem to know what it is in its method of filming. There are numerous times when the scene is shown through a multitude of different cameras, but then there are scenes where the angle would be impossible for there to be a camera. A scene I will use as an example is when the gang members are in their car. One gang member has a camera and is filming them, which we see the scene unfold through. However, when a character talks to them and the camera shows the gang member holding the video camera, there are no cameras in the car that would have gotten that video. The point I am making is that the film jumps between found-footage and then regular filming at random points in scenes, which gets frustrating.
The dialog in this movie has been praised by many, and while I can understand why so many people thought it was great, I thought at best it was mediocre. A lot of the street talk was cliché and stereotypical, as was the banter between the police officers, not Gyllenhaal and Pena, felt like it came from someone who didn't know how people joked around with one another. This is also one of only three movies, the other two being the 2005 "Assault on Precinct 13" and the recent movie "Sex Tape" where I have to complain about the swearing in the dialog. Now, I have no problem with swearing, but in this movie, I felt like it got worked into every other sentence because it was supposed to make the dialog feel more realistic. Now, to Ayer's credit, there are some scenes with very good use of dialog, especially at the funeral scene and the last scene of the movie. The single line used during the funeral said everything that needed to be said without going overboard, and the last scene of the movie felt like one person telling a funny story.
One thing I will give credit for was the acting in this movie. Gyllenhaal and Pena had very good chemistry and worked off of each other well. Anna Kendrick also did a very good job. I'm actually surprised none of these actors were nominated for Academy Awards for their work in this movie.
Even with the acting, though, the film is still bogged down with problems, deriving heavily from the camera work and dialog. The idea of following around two officers in their day-to-day lives including their police work and personal lives is an interesting idea, and I think it could be pulled off with a better script and less of the found- footage aspect of the camera work.