END OF WATCH Written and directed by David Ayer, with Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick and Cody Horn. A VVS Films release. Some subtitles. 109 minutes. Opens Friday (September 21). See times. Rating: N
Having written Training Day and directed Harsh Times and Street Kings, David Ayer continues to make movies about the complex awesomeness of men with guns, which would be terrific if he’d ever had a single thing to say.
End Of Watch is Ayer’s usual mixture of braggadocio and ultra-violence, this time following a pair of LAPD beat cops (Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña) as they chase petty criminals, banter about their relationships and eventually get on the wrong side of a Mexican cartel.
It’s more drearily episodic (hey, Ayer saw The Hurt Locker!) than his other films and uses a found-footage gimmick that falls apart maybe 10 minutes in, when angles are covered by hand-held cameras that no one can possibly be holding – unless Gyllenhaal’s bedroom scene with love interest Anna Kendrick is secretly a threesome, of course.
For extra dissonance, the end credits of this insistently gritty, ultra-realistic movie include a thank-you to celebrity chef Bobby Flay and his Mesa Grill restaurants.
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