REVIEWS


Reviews edited by Mark Adams mark.adams@screendaily.com


End Of Watch Reviewed by Tim Grierson


With his screenplay for the Denzel Washington Oscar winner Training Day and his subsequent fea- tures Harsh Times and Street Kings, writer-director David Ayer has meticulously chronicled the dan- gerous, ethically slippery world of the Los Angeles Police Department. His new film, End Of Watch, doesn’t break much new ground on the subject, but it’s nonetheless an intensely rendered and superbly acted drama. Despite the presence of Jake Gyllenhaal and


Anna Kendrick, however, End Of Watch will have a hard time distinguishing itself from a handful of other recent cop dramas available on both the big and small screen. With award possibilities unlikely, this stubbornly riveting little drama will probably be lost amid the Oscar-season rush. End Of Watch focuses on the lives of officers Tay-


lor (Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Michael Pena) as they go on patrol and hang out together during their off-duty hours. Because Taylor wants to document the reality of their jobs, he carries a digital cam- corder and places mini-cameras on both their uni- forms, and for several sequences the audience watches what transpires through these POV shots. Though largely episodic, End Of Watch eventually introduces a narrative thread concerning a drug cartel that has targeted the two cops for execution. In his previous films, Ayer has dramatised the


mental and emotional demands required to be a police officer, and in this regard End Of Watch can


INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM — COMPETITION


US. 2012. 109mins Director/screenplay David Ayer Production companies Exclusive Media, EFF- Hedge Fund Films, Le Grisbi, Crave Films International sales Exclusive Media, www. exclusivemedia.com Producers John Lesher, David Ayer, Nigel Sinclair, Matt Jackson Executive producers Randall Emmett, Stepan Martirosyan, Remington Chase, Adam Kassan, Chrisann Verges, Guy East, Tobin Armbrust, Jake Gyllenhaal Cinematography Roman Vasyanov Editor Dody Dorn Music David Sardy Main cast Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Anna Kendrick, Natalie Martinez, America Ferrera, Frank Grillo, David Harbour


n 6 Screen International at the Zurich Film Festival September 23-25, 2012


be seen as a further refinement of his years-long fascination with law enforcement. And although the film’s found-footage gimmick adds little — it seems preposterous that either the cops or their adversaries would be carrying cameras — the tech- nique merges seamlessly with the movie’s hand- held camerawork, which is quite gripping during the unexpected shootouts and tense confrontations that face our heroes. This character drama succeeds largely thanks to


Gyllenhaal and Pena’s camaraderie as partners who are able to mock each other’s cultural differ- ences but still be as close as brothers. With a lived- in authenticity, Ayer’s leads reveal how these two cops share a bond that no one, not even their sig- nificant others, can truly understand. End Of Watch has the twitchy anxiety and ran-


dom violence of a war film, and Gyllenhaal shows some of the same rugged strength he brought to Jarhead in his portrayal of the cocky, sarcastic Tay- lor. (Pena is just as funny and effortlessly com- manding as his co-star.) Even if much of End Of Watch is familiar, Gyllenhaal and Pena tackle the material with gusto, complementing Ayer’s hard- edged worldview. As a further indication of End Of Watch’s ability


to overcome its clichéd storyline, Kendrick does fine work in what could be the predictable role of Taylor’s kind-hearted girlfriend Janet. She displays not just sweetness but also a grownup grit, making Janet a smart woman who knows full well the implications of falling in love with a man who puts his life in danger every single day.


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