Photo by Scott Garfield - © Open Road Films
Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña - End of Watch (2012)
Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña in End of Watch (2012)
End of Watch
(Shout! Studio 4K UHD/Blu-ray)
The 2012 film End of Watch by writer-director David Ayer (Training Day) is an LAPD cop drama constructed from the fractured, fragmented input of contemporary media. Conventional filmmaking is employed, yet other stretches appear shot from jiggling cellphones. In one, the protagonists (played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) make their own mugging YouTube video as they show off the hardware they carry: the Glock, the handcuffs, pepper spray … There are car chases through the sprawling, impoverished flatland of South Central and a startling moment—filmed from the squad car’s driver seat—when gangsta bullets shatter the windshield.
The End of Watch cops are not the white bread, buttoned-down officers of “Adam 12.” This film’s LAPD is a multi-ethnic brother-sisterhood with a jock culture complete with high-fiving, trash talk and locker rooms. They are like the rowdy study hall when they gather at the precinct for their orders. The captain assures them that if they do right, he’ll have their backs. But if they do wrong, watch out.
End of Watch catches the adrenaline and boredom of police work and the unruly, fraying society they patrol, including ethnic violence between Black and Hispanic gangs. The new release for home viewing includes audio commentary by the director and several short features. (David Luhrssen)
