Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Anna Kendrick
Director: David Ayer
Rating: 4/5
David Ayer is famed for bringing corrupt cop movies to the big screen but this week he delivers a very different movie in the form of End of Watch.
Police officers Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Peña) are partners and best friends. A night-school student in film production, Taylor affixes tiny cameras to his and Zavala’s uniforms to record their daily routines, collecting material for a short video about the real lives of the LAPD.
Life is good - until a seemingly routine vehicle check finds the pair stepping on the toes of powerful drug traffickers.
To say that the cop movie isAyer’s forte is a bit of an understatement as he always delivers incredibly visceral and hard hitting movies - and End of Watch carries on that fine tradition.
But there is a breath of fresh air with the latest Ayer movie as it is about two upstanding cops who put their lives on the line every day rather than telling a tale of a cop that is on the take.
And while there are shoot outs and great car chases the heart of this movie is the relationship between Taylor and Zavala - two men who share the same squad car and with that comes a real bond.
It is this central relationship that really makes the movie what is it as a real friendship and brotherly love has developed between the pair that is so genuine and so strong.
And that is thanks to two great central performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena that this has been achieved; Taylor is a man who is still haunted by his military past while Zavala is a devoted family man.
These two men couldn’t he further apart and yet they have between them a bond and a trust that cannot be broken - and this is played perfectly by these two fine actors.
It is also Gyllenhaal and Pena who provide the comedy relief as they banter so well together - the stories that they tell whilst driving around the streets of L.A. are particularly great.
And that light relief is something that is needed in this film and Ayer strikes the perfect balance between humour as well as being a gritty cop drama.
But what makes this movie better than most of the cop films that we have seen of late is the way that Ayer has put the audience right in the middle of the action.
Gyllenhaal’s character is documenting his time on the job and it really gives the audience an up close and personal feel as to what is going on - it is like you are on the ride with them.
End of Watch is not only one of the best crime dramas to have hit the big screen this year but it is also one of the best movies of the year as Ayer really has delivered a piece of knock out cinema.
This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat as you are never really sure where Ayer is going to take you next.
The movie has an incredibly tight script and because of that the film is fast paced and packed with action and Ayer doesn’t give you a second to catch your breathe.
End of Watch is a movie where Ayer, Gyllenhaal and Pena really are on top form and it is a film that is not to be missed.
End of Watch is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Jake Gyllenhaal End Of Watch Michael Pena David Ayer