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Thread: End of Watch

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Walnut Creek, California

    End of Watch

    Jason alluded, about 10 days ago, to his belief that End of Watch was one of the best pictures of the year, certainly the best cop picture of the year. I saw it tonight and can agree that it is a gripping, poignant and hard movie. Grit is its middle name.

    Before going further, I must say that neither the IMDB nor Rotten Tomatoes squibs have much to do with the film. They say, respectively:

    IMDB: Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel, during a routine traffic stop.

    RT: ...Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel, during a routine traffic stop.
    That's a "Yeah, but..." The IMDB and RT squibs describe but a small portion of their tours. The movie is actually about the brotherhood of police officers and the specific brotherhood of two honest, hardworking cops, one white, one Hispanic, who become figurative brothers. They are, by turns: coarse, funny, chauvinistic, unbelievably brave, loving, and grief-stricken. (And maybe other things I can't put to mind.)

    Anyway, this follows perhaps a year in their lives as they face the mean streets of East L.A. That gives Jake Gyllenhaal and Michal Penã the opportunity to create two very likable and earthy characters. The personalities they create are extremely realistic. They are always on the edge of danger and rub their elbows harshly against the walls and doorjambs of their raw and ugly turf. On top of that sort of normal, the murderous gang they face is beyond nasty.

    There is an unusual angle as Penã films some of this in cinema verité style, giving the chase and crime scenes a more realistic look.

    This is not a movie for those looking for light-hearted fun, though Natalie Martinez and Anna Kendrick provide a soft background to their lives. As the title suggests, it does not end well. The film has issues of language (F bombs everywhere), violence and adult discussions/situations. If you like hard-nosed (over)-realistic cop shows, this is for you. If not, skip it. Both IMDB and RT do give it very high ratings, tending to confirm Jason's remarks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    I am glad you liked it Jim. When I saw it about a month ago, I was blown away and commented to some folks that it was (to me, someone who has never been a cop) the most realistic portrayal of what it might be like to work a beat in a truly crime-stricken and dangerous area. It has not been a big film at the boxoffice (making a middling $37 mil so far), though it has made a very nice profit for its backers (it reportedly cost just $7 mil to film and has not had a large marketing budget). It is unfortunate, but I doubt it gets much award consideration as it is not a typical award-bait type of film and does not have a powerful studio behind it (Open Road is the distributor). Still, the more people who see it, the better as it is a quite good film.

    -Jason "I urge folks to see it quickly, as it is going from 1500 theaters to just 700 this weekend and will probably be all but gone from theaters in a couple weeks" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Albemarle, North Carolina

    Another POV

    I watched it with a group and I must say I came away with a different opinion. The movie was agonizingly slow , the timelines made no sense, the swearing sounded forced and didn't feel right, there was no "real story" or at least none that I was aware of. In short maybe its because my expectations were so high but I was thinking this was gonna be an action movie but it is really just a fake documentary. Why make a fake documentary?


    - I did like the ending although I still would have liked to have seen a change there as well.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    Quote Originally Posted by JNort View Post
    I watched it with a group and I must say I came away with a different opinion. The movie was agonizingly slow , the timelines made no sense, the swearing sounded forced and didn't feel right, there was no "real story" or at least none that I was aware of. In short maybe its because my expectations were so high but I was thinking this was gonna be an action movie but it is really just a fake documentary. Why make a fake documentary?

    - I did like the ending although I still would have liked to have seen a change there as well.
    I think they went for the fake documentary thing to make it feel more real. It worked for me most of the time. Of course, going for "real" with known actors is not always the smartest idea. Jake G is pretty darn well-known (Michael Pena ain't exactly a nobody) so the fake doc thing seems trained at times.

    -Jason "you are entitled to your opinion, but you are in a decided minority. EOW sits at 86% on RT, which is a very, very high score for a violent, cop drama" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Albemarle, North Carolina
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    I think they went for the fake documentary thing to make it feel more real. It worked for me most of the time. Of course, going for "real" with known actors is not always the smartest idea. Jake G is pretty darn well-known (Michael Pena ain't exactly a nobody) so the fake doc thing seems trained at times.

    -Jason "you are entitled to your opinion, but you are in a decided minority. EOW sits at 86% on RT, which is a very, very high score for a violent, cop drama" Evans
    Well I went with a group (8 of us I think) and I was the only who did not like it. Everyone that liked it kept talking about how sad it was and that is where I think I missed out. I never felt a connection between the cops and I thought the ending was kinda obvious and was not surprised by it. I realize I am in a minority I just wanted to let people know that the trailer made it out better than it actually was and to go into it with a more level head than I did. I have been recommending it to people as a movie to watch once it hits stores or wait till it is on tv, do not go watch in theaters.

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