Movie Review: End of Watch

I'm not really into cop movies but for some reason I couldn't wait to see End of Watch. It features a couple of my favorite actors including Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, and Anna Kendrick.

End of Watch starts off by introducing us to two South Central police officers who are in pursuit of two suspects and ends in a shootout with both suspects being killed. Both officer Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and officer Zavala (Michael Pena) are cleared to return to work a couple weeks later.

The opening scene is giving a little taste of what to expect throughout the rest of the movie. I knew that there was going to be different points of view for this movie. Since officer Taylor was in a film making class when he returned to work, some parts of the movie were shot from his handheld camera. I didn't enjoy the movie going back and forth between the handheld camera and the 3rd person camera for the audience to get a better view of certain scenes.

They are forced to work into a new area located in South Central and stumble upon a bust that leads the two officers to something they weren't ready for. They are now wanted men and have a bounty over their heads.

End of Watch is not all about police duty though. There's a side plot about the personal life between officer Taylor and his girlfriend Janet (Anna Kendrick). We see how the two grow closer together throughout the film.

The thing I enjoyed about the movie the most was the humor side of it. There are a couple of parts when the officers are in the car together just talking to one another about their own personal lives and it gives the audience a little taste of what it's like to be an actual cop. It's not all serious business for them and they have fun once in a while. Gyllenhaal mentioned that they spent over five months and 50 ride alongs with LAPD and Inglewood PD for this role. They wanted to make it as realistic as possible and I believe they did a fine job.

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Overall, it was a great cop movie. There were some graphic parts but that's part of their jobs since they deal with criminals every single day. It was great being about to get a glimpse of what cops do daily and you gain a lot of respect for them. I know, it's not everyday they try to bust a drug cartel but the other little incidents throughout the movie are what I imagine happens. I will warn you though, you might cry at the end of the movie.

Verdict: Go see it in theaters.

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