End of Watch

A typically gritty effort from David Ayer, End of Watch details the exploits of two hotshot cops (Jake Gyllenhaal’s Brian and Michael Peña’s Mike) as they go about their day-to-day business patrolling the streets of Los Angeles. It’s a fairly standard setup that is, at the outset, employed to better-than-anticipated effect by Ayer, as the writer/director does a nice job of initially establishing the central characters and their rough-and-tumble existence – with the compelling atmosphere heightened by the strong performances from both Gyllenhaal and Peña. Ayer’s decision to continuously switch from Brian’s first-person perspective (ie the character is shooting his on-the-job adventures for a school project) to an omniscient point-of-view tends to hold the viewer at arm’s length, admittedly, as the pervasively jittery presentation is never not distracting and one ultimately can’t help but wish that the filmmaker had utilized a more conventional visual sensibility. And although the film has been suffused with a number of memorable moments and sequences (eg Brian and Mike roll up on an attack on fellow officers), End of Watch‘s episodic narrative grows more and more wearying as time progresses (ie the movie often feels like a big-screen adaptation of Cops) – which does, as a result, ensure that the almost incongruously sensationalistic climax isn’t quite able to pack the visceral punch that Ayer’s clearly shooting for. The end result is a sporadically electrifying yet terminally uneven endeavor that works best as a showcase for its superb performances, as both Gyllenhaal and Peña manage to transform their respective characters into wholeheartedly compelling figures that wouldn’t be unwelcome in another, better movie.

**1/2 out of ****