After being exonerated over an on-the-job shooting, cavalier cops Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal, Source Code) and Mike Zavala (Michael Peña, Tower Heist) are back on the beat, patrolling one of the worst neighbourhoods of Los Angeles’ South Central district. Their arrogant enthusiasm for upholding the law may see them occasionally fall afoul of their grizzled sergeant (Frank Grillo, The Grey) and cause stress for their respective partners (Anna Kendrick, 50/50 and Natalie Martinez, Death Race), however it is their incursion upon the drug-dealing, people-smuggling business of a local gang that threatens the men’s livelihood and longevity.
Though the narrative of End of Watch follows the standard police procedural formula (as seen in writer/director David Ayer’s previous films, including Training Day, Dark Blue, S.W.A.T. and Street Kings), a central, stylish gimmick ensures the film is not constrained by over-familiarity. Establishing the presence of recording equipment in the protagonists’ squad car during an opening car chase and gun battle, the feature relies upon the proclivity of Gyllenhaal’s Taylor in immortalising his and his colleague’s antics, filmed on ever-present handheld and lapel cameras.
Subsequently, End of Watch unravels as a cavalcade of frenetic imagery, composed to capture the erratic, relentless nature of the characters and their chosen career. Energetically cross-cutting between cameras, the ‘found footage’-inspired technique draws the viewer into the men’s unpredictable existence, with inventive angles and close-ups of nothing in particular all part of the frenzied aesthetic. Quieter moments also intrude, as camaraderie is conveyed in lengthy car rides. When necessary, Ayer supplements his style with shots outside the established sources, the most jarring part of the presentation.
The audience’s immersion in their ordeal through such subjective cinematography (courtesy of The Motel Life’s Roman Vasyanov) is not only inventive in masking the film’s buddy-cop predictability, but visually and emotionally arresting. Without it, the feature’s inclusion of the expected tropes may have bordered on boring; with it, viewers are thrust into the action and made to empathise with policemen’s plights, complete with rewarding and terrifying consequences.
However, it is the central performances of Gyllenhaal and Peña – particularly the latter, in a modest yet meaningful display of his talents – that enhance End of Watch. In one of the most memorable pairings in recent police film history, their easy affinity drives investment in the events that unfold, inspiring a visceral reaction to the gritty, galvanising depiction of police sacrifice and heroism that ultimately drives the feature.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
End of Watch
Director: David Ayer
USA, 2012, 109 min
Now showing in cinemas
Distributor: Roadshow
Rated MA
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