David Ayer’s newest movie End Of Watch, stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as two Los Angeles police officers, Brian Taylor and Mike Zavala. The movie follows the two cops through their careers as officers, starting off as rookies and making their first huge bust, to starting families.
Taylor begins to videotape his everyday life, including his shifts on patrol. The partners have many run-ins with gangsters, and the Mexican cartel, and other crimes and Taylor catches them all on tape.
Officers Brian Taylor and Mike Zavala go the distance and are marked for death after confiscating a small amount of money and firearms from members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop. After many busts with the cartel, Taylor and Zavala have a hit placed on them. The two cops respond to call and are lured into an ambush. Four cartel gangsters have them cornered in an apartment complex. Luckily, they escape, but a twist leaves officers Taylor wounded and officer Zavala dead.
Dispatch was called during the ambush and after the turn of events, back up finally arrives, but it’s too late.
Officer Zavala was declared dead and he had an officer’s funeral. For people like me, this scene was far too familiar to my reality. By the end of the movie, I was in tears. This scene was similar to a recent death of a family friend who was an officer.
In preparation for the making of this film, Gyllenhaal visited with actual police officers and got hands-on experience for his role. His experience more than paid off in the film. Everything from the language used and to the accessories on their uniform was spot on.
Having a father as a police officer gave me some insight on the movie and made it relatable. Although this movie may be hard to watch at times, I commend the accuracy and portrayal of police officers and their lives.
I originally saw the movie during the summer and thought it was great that I should purchase it for myself when it was released. This movie was a very accurate representation of a Cop’s life and worth spending the money on.
