By
Cole Smithey
Bad
cop to good cop
 David
Ayers switches teams in ‘End of Watch’
3 stars
Rated R
109 mins.
Drama
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna
Kendrick
“End of Watch” is a gritty brief apologia from
writer-director David Ayer for his less than
complementary Los Angeles copsploitation films
“Training Day” and “Harsh Times.” Where those
films depicted the underbelly of L.A. cops as
drug-crazed thugs no better than the criminals
they pursue, here the boys in blue are framed
as decent individuals doing an impossibly dangerous
and disorienting job. But apologias are not
David Ayers’ forte. Plot holes and plot leaps
proliferate around Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael
Pena, a couple of South Central patrol cops
with a knack for stumbling into colossal trouble.
The drama excels in the pitch-perfect dialogue
between officers Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Zavala
(Pena), two brothers of the badge who share
a loyal and frequently humorous bond. Ayer has
clearly done serious research to exactly nail
down the official and unofficial slang that
Los Angeles cops use to communicate in verbal
shorthand.
Ayer employs an erratically accessible film-within-a-film
device that has officer Taylor using a combination
of camcorder and clip-on pocket cameras for
he and Zavela to record their police activities
for a college course Taylor is supposedly taking.
And yet, we never see him attending any classes.
As such, the cop-as-amateur-filmmaker trope
doesn’t suspend much disbelief. In some nighttime
scenes Ayer goes so far as to use a night-vision
camera that puts his subjects under a glowing
negative relief visual audiences will associate
with military convention. If anything, these
point-of-view camera effects distract more than
they add to the violently-charged action at
hand.
Taylor and Zavala like to poke fun at one another.
They like to dish about their women. Zavala
is happily married to his high school sweetheart
who has a bun in the oven. Taylor is tired of
repeating his worn-out dating routine, which
goes from a “respectful kiss” on the first date
to “carnal knowledge” on the second, to “a couple
of bootie calls” before coming to an abrupt
halt. Anna Kendrick plays Janet, a vivacious
and confident young woman who wins Taylor’s
affection — body and soul. Although Kendrick
adds a lot to the film, one major plot problem
emanates from the couple’s relationship, which
goes from zero to married without much narrative
attention. The couple’s wedding scene seems
to come out of nowhere.
A similar issue of underdeveloped plot construction
lingers over a story involving illegal immigrants
and a Mexican drug cartel. The officers discover
an outrageously distressing example of human
trafficking that seems to provide the movie
with a thematic goal. And then — nothing. The
same goes for the copious drug smuggling evidence
they run across during a routine door-knock.
Severed body parts serve as some kind of grotesque
warning at the crime scene.
Finally, the film’s bloody denouement is built
on a cartoonish gang of cholo thugs led by a
tough chic who swears she is prepared to “do
the time” for the murderous crime she intends
to commit. The crew has it in for Taylor and
Zavala for some overblown reason that is never
adequately explained.
Despite its flaws, “End of Watch” is nonetheless
entertaining for the praiseworthy performances
of its ensemble. Gyllenhaal and Pena are exquisite
together, and Anna Kendrick works her disarming
charm to every advantage. The question remains:
What made David Ayers turn from anti-cop propaganda
to pro-cop propaganda? Perhaps his next copsploitation
effort will help answer the question. CV |
