Jake Gyllenhaal took a big risk on this film as both executive producer and lead, Officer Bryan Taylor of the Los Angeles Police Department. He and his partner, Miguel Zavala (Michael Peña) were so dedicated to the project, they spent months preparing with the LAPD, riding along with the officers in South Central and learning the trade.
The result is a phenomenal combination of filmmaking basics– camera work, writing, acting, and editing – that is powerful, imaginative, and inventive, without resorting to CGI.
The story can almost be framed as a 60’s Western. Officers Taylor and Zavala are cowboy cops, who have a reputation for getting into situations where bullets fly. An opening shootout meant administrative leave for the two. Following them on their first patrol back shows how depressed and dangerous their precinct is. South Central LA is an almost different world, with dilapidated neighborhoods, gutted houses, gang warfare and guns everywhere.
Taylor is a former marine who wants his detective badge, so he convinces Zavala to stake out a house where they discovered a Mexican gang hangout. His chosen path for advancement pits the two against a dangerous cartel that wants them dead.
Unlike so many cop movies, there is no threat from within. There are no dirty cops or shady politicians. The only threat are from the “Indians” on the streets they took an oath to protect, even in the face of gang warfare, drugs, human trafficking, and a changing urban ecology. In spite of ominous warnings that the cartel was hunting them, their “cowboy” bravado becomes their undoing.
The film is visually striking, right from the pulse-raising beginning; Taylor’s soft-spoken, gentle, almost poetic narration runs in perfect counterpoint to the hyper-edited chase that unfolds, leading to a shoot out, and killing the perps. The entire scene is told through the police car’s dash-cam.
This motif not only continues through the film, but much of the story is told through lapel-cams, dash-cams, and handheld cameras. This is woven into the story where we learn Officer Taylor is back at college, explaining that he needs to make a documentary film for a class. In the locker room, talking to the camera, he introduces the tools of the trade, such as guns and handcuffs, but also includes a small lapel-cam that officers wear.
Many of the scenes begin with footage that looks like a dash or lapel cam, or Taylor’s own handycam. Once a location is established, hand-held film cameras are employed, with a similar wide-angle look, to maintain that voyeuristic and loose feel. It’s seamless, putting the audience there for the ride – whether its in the patrol car as the two cruise the streets, or in a gangbanger’s car as they prepare to unleash a hail of bullets.
The story does a great job of justifying the technique by incorporating the practical cameras into the script.(on a personal note, I dislike cinema verite, but when the disorienting motion is relevant to the story, it makes sense to me). Another thing it does better than any other cop film in memory is the attention to realism. The time the leads spent researching served them well. The banter in the patrol car, often improvised, is said to impress real police with the representation. Curse filled to nearly record proportions, the dialogue is gritty and realistic, but also filled with the spirit of partnership and brotherhood; more often then not, the two are just talkin’ shit about their lives like a married couple.
The editing is truly frenetic at times, throwing manic pacing faster than the eye can manage; but the result is almost a subliminal experiment in montage, where the perceived ferocity of a fight is the result of speedy edits. It elevates the pulse and fosters almost sympathetic reactions from the audience.
This film doesn’t have a happy ending. It’s too real to stoop to that level. But even though it might be a little unexpected, ends on one of the single most emotionally driven sentences in film. To some, it might seem a little cheesy or contrived, especially if the fraternal camaraderie is lost on them; but if you ask a cop, chances are they’ll tell you that End of Watch finally got it right.
And without a blip of CGI.
Rating: 8 of 10 piñatas
Pain Level: 7
Medication: 200 mg Lyrica, 20 mg oxycodone
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