They are at the END OF WATCH

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to 4K Ultra HD and Bluray in a Limited Edition Steelbook from writer/director David Ayers and Shout! Studios is the gripping END OF WATCH.

Officer Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Pena) are partners in the Los Angeles Police Department assigned to South Central Los Angeles. Recently returned to duty after an officer involved shooting, Taylor finally returns back to his beat and making work notes for a class he is taking. That doesn’t mean that the problems are over, especially during a disturbance call and gang member Tre (Cle Shaheed Sloan) ends up in an altercation because of the racial remarks he makes towards Zavala. Tre and he fellow gang members are attacked later during a drive by cause more chaos.

The two continue their shift dealing with an arrest during a traffic stop when they discover firearms and cash in the car. It is Taylor who wants to continue to look into it and tries to talk Zavala into it. When they do, they discover a house of human trafficking but ICE steps in learning that the Sinaloa Cartel is responsible and to stay away. In their personal lives, Zavala is happy with wife Gabby (Natalie Martinez) and child while Taylor takes the leap becoming engaged to girlfriend Janet (Anna Kendrick).

During another shift, Taylor and Savala deal with the heinous beating of a fellow cop, wellness check on a woman discovering that the cartel has a message for them. Tre, find respect for Savala, tells them about a cartel assassination plot looking to hit the police. Taylor and Zavala brush off the warning. They should have listened!

Gyllenhaal as Taylor gives a strong performance as a cop who is basically providing video of his days as an LAPD cop. Obviously loving his job, he also finds himself in situations that would make everyone else run for the hills – fast. This is a tough role in the sense that there is a sense of reality to it all because as we know, bad people do bad things. Gyllenhaal has always been known to take on dynamic roles with a bit of edge and Taylor is no exception.

Pena as Zavala is, as always, such an amazing underrated actor. Along side Gyllenhaal, he is as tough as his partner but in a bit of a different way. Not quite as gun-ho but also doesn’t back down when it is called for. I love the mix of his character because Pena has been that actor who you throw a script at and he is going to make that character memorable and stand out. The character of Zavala is intense and shows his realness in so many ways and I’m here for it absolutely.

Kendrick as Janet is a woman who happens to be in love with a cop and everything that goes along with that. Finding the balance between who he is and what he does, Kendrick navigates us through the intensity of emotions and the life she bonds herself too. Martinez as Gabby is a wild wife who accepts Janet and Taylor because her husband sees him as a brother in so many ways. She had me laughing but at the same time is so beautiful with Pena’s character.

Other cast include Frank Grillo as Sgt. Daniels, Jaime FitzSimons as Cpt. Reese, America Ferrera as Officer Orozco, Kristy Wu as Officer Sook, Cody Horn as Officer Davis, Shondrella Avery as Bonita, Maurice Compte as Big Evil, Flakiss as La-La, Diamonique as Wicked, Richard Cabral as Demon, and David Harbour as Officer Van Hauser.

SHOUT! Studios have grown into a tremendous multi-platform media company. Releasing new animated features such as the exquisite Long Way North, and the epic fantasy Beauty and The Beast. Also, their own original horror film, Fender Bender gives fans a good scare. For more of what SHOUT! Studios have to offer please visit www.shoutfactory.com.

Bonus Features Include Disc One (4K UHD), New 4K Dolby Vision Presentation, and Audio Commentary with Writer/Director David Ayer. Disc Two (Bluray) Audio Commentary with David Ayer, Deleted Scenes and Five Featurettes: Fate With A Badge, In the Streets, Women on Watch, Watch Your Six and Honors.

END OF WATCH was film primarily at the LAPD’s Newton Division in South Central Los Angeles with a budget of 7.1 million (remember, the film was shot in 2011). Shot with a mixture of found footage style, the scenes were captured with four cameras filing at the same time. A combination of vest cams, dashboard and handheld camera, there are two endings to the film with Ayers choosing the one in the released film.

The film is a gripping look at two cops who would do anything for each other and do. These two actors are front and center in the story and it is almost impossible to take your eyes off the screen. It is dark, unbelievable and hard to turn away from with the possibility that this is what cops on the streets dead with on a daily basis. From scene to scene, there isn’t a moment where it is predictable which is what has always caught me about this film.

Director Ayers says of his film, “A friend thought I should write another cop film. When a friend of mine showed me like a highlights reel. It was insane and it was so compelling. Just to flip the cop story further, they are good guys. They are not corrupt. Writing it in six days, the script came out of me like lightening. The story is all about the two characters. Inside the cop car are my favorite scenes. It is so simple, if you have friends, their confirmations are so beautiful and subtle with universal themes.”

Gyllenhaal and Pena are the film absolutely. Watching the story unfold, they are front and center in the story Ayes is trying to tell. Squashing the stereotypical film of cops being corrupt, these two officers are not. That creates a look of a deep relationship between these two characters that will stay with you forever.

In the end – every moment of your life they stand watch!