End of Watch Wikipedia film page

End of Watch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

This is a good article. Click here for more information.

End of Watch
End of Watch Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
David Ayer
Produced by
David Ayer
 Matt Jackson
 John Lesher
 Nigel Sinclair
Written by
David Ayer
Starring
Jake Gyllenhaal
Michael Peña
Anna Kendrick
Natalie Martinez
America Ferrera
Frank Grillo
David Harbour
Music by
David Sardy
Cinematography
Roman Vasyanov
Edited by
Dody Dorn

Production
 company

StudioCanal
Exclusive Media
 Crave Films
 CECTV Films
Emmett/Furla Films

Distributed by
Open Road Films

Release dates

September 8, 2012 (Toronto)
September 21, 2012 (United States)


Running time
 110 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
English, Spanish
Budget
$7.5 million
Box office
$53 million
End of Watch is a 2012 American drama thriller film written and directed by David Ayer. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as Brian Taylor and Miguel Zavala, two Los Angeles Police Department officers who work in South Central Los Angeles. The film focuses on their day-to-day police work, their dealings with a certain group of gang members, and their personal relationships.
Ayer, who had written several police procedural films previously, wanted End of Watch to focus more on the friendship between partners and honest police work rather than corruption. Gyllenhaal, Peña, and other cast members underwent an intensive training program to prepare for their roles as police officers. Filming took place in Los Angeles in August 2011 with a budget of $7.5 million.
End of Watch premiered on September 8, 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in American theaters on September 21, grossing over $53 million at the box office. The film was well received by critics and received a number of accolades, including two Independent Spirit Award nominations.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Release 4.1 Box office
4.2 Home media
5 Reception
6 Awards and nominations
7 References
8 External links

§Plot[edit]
Brian Taylor and Miguel Zavala are close friends and partners in the Newton Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in South Central Los Angeles. Taylor, a former Marine, is recording their police activities for a film project.
Upon responding to a public disturbance call, Tre, a Bloods gang member, yells racist insults at Zavala, who responds by accepting a fight. Zavala beats and arrests him, but wins Tre's respect for not charging him with assault. Later that night, Tre and his fellow Bloods gang members are attacked by a group of Sureños in a drive-by shooting and one of Tre's friends is killed. The next day, the officers respond to a noise complaint at a house party full of Sureños, where Taylor encounters a gang member named Big Evil, whose truck he later finds is filled with ornately-decorated firearms and a large amount of money.
Taylor and Zavala are awarded the Medal of Valor after rescuing two children from a house fire. Upon further investigating a house, they arrest a man who is also in possession of several ornate firearms, and is guarding a cell full of human trafficking victims. When ICE agents arrive, one agent informs the officers that the house is tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, and strongly urges them to "lay low" due to possible reprisals. Around this time, Taylor begins dating a woman named Janet, and Zavala's wife Gabby gives birth to their first child.
One night, Taylor and Zavala respond to a call from their fellow officer, Sook, and find her partner Van Hauser with a knife through his eye. He leads them to Sook, who is being savagely beaten nearby. After arresting the culprit, the officers learn that Van Hauser is not returning to patrol and Sook is leaving the force. Taylor marries Janet, and at their wedding Zavala tells Taylor that, should anything happen to him, he will take care of Janet. The next day, the officers perform a welfare check on an elderly woman. In her house, they discover drugs, dismembered corpses, and a message from the cartel. Unbeknownst to them, a cartel member has "green-lit" the officers, and the gangsters from the earlier drive-by begin following them.
Shortly after Janet gets pregnant, the officers are baited into chasing a reckless driver into an apartment complex, where they are ambushed by the same group of Latino gang members. They fight their way into an alley, where Taylor is shot in the chest. As Zavala desperately attends to his partner, the assassins arrive and shoot him several times in the back, killing him. Police backup eventually arrives and the gangsters are killed after refusing to surrender.
Taylor survives, having been shielded by Zavala's body. At Zavala's funeral, Taylor tries to deliver a eulogy, but only manages to say a few words: "He was my brother." In a flashback to the day of the shooting, Zavala recounts to Taylor a story from his teens before the two receive the call from dispatch.
§Cast[edit]
Jake Gyllenhaal as Brian Taylor
Michael Peña as Miguel "Mike" Zavala
Natalie Martinez as Gabby Zavala
Anna Kendrick as Janet Taylor
Frank Grillo as Sarge
America Ferrera as Orozco
Cody Horn as Davis
David Harbour as Van Hauser
Cle Sloan as Tre
Shondrella Avery as Bonita
Kristy Wu as Sook
§Production[edit]



Jake Gyllenhaal

Michael Peña

Jake Gyllenhaal (left) and Michael Peña (right) undertook five months of intensive training to prepare for their roles in the film.
David Ayer, who wrote and directed End of Watch, grew up in South Central Los Angeles and has had numerous friends in the LAPD.[2][3] He had written several films previously about police officers in Los Angeles, but while these depicted rogue and corrupt officers, he wanted to feature honest, ethical police work in End of Watch.[3] In contrast to his previous works, Ayer wanted to focus on the friendship between Taylor and Zavala and "have all the cop stuff drop away and become secondary to the chemistry of these guys".[4] Ayer wrote the screenplay over six days in December 2010.[5] Jaime FitzSimons, a longtime friend of Ayer and a former police officer with the LAPD, served as the film's technical advisor, and his experiences from working in Los Angeles inspired several plot points of the film.[2][6][7]:6
Jake Gyllenhaal was the first to be cast in the film; after receiving the script, he read it in an hour and immediately contacted Ayer.[3][5] Michael Peña was cast shortly after, following a string of auditions.[3] He and Gyllenhaal did not bond immediately but gradually became close friends over the process of training and filming.[3] Gyllenhaal and Peña undertook five months of intensive training under the guidance of FitzSimons to prepare for their roles—this included 12-hour ride-alongs with multiple Greater Los Angeles Area law enforcement agencies up to three times a week, as well as training in hand-to-hand combat, police tactics and weapons.[3][8] On his first ride-along, Gyllenhaal witnessed a murder during a drug bust.[9] Tactical training was also given to the other actors playing police officers, including David Harbour, America Ferrera, Cody Horn, and Frank Grillo.[7]:14
End of Watch was filmed on location in South Central Los Angeles, primarily in the area of the LAPD's Newton Division, one of the most violent and gang-affiliated areas of the city.[7]:16 Filming took place over 22 days in August 2011, with a budget of $7.5 million.[3][5] The film was shot in a combination of found footage style and traditional photography.[10] Most scenes were captured by four cameras simultaneously:[7]:6 these included a handheld camera operated by Gyllenhaal, cameras clipped to Gyllenhaal and Peña's vests, and dashboard footage from their patrol car.[3][6] Some scenes were shot entirely by Gyllenhaal.[10] An alternate ending of the film was shot where both of the main characters died, but Ayer ultimately chose to retain the original ending.[10]
§Release[edit]



 Michael Peña (left) and David Ayer promoting the film at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International
The world premiere of End of Watch was held on September 8, 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival.[11] It was originally scheduled to be released theatrically on September 28, 2012,[12] but the release was later moved to September 21.[13]
§Box office[edit]
Over its opening weekend in the United States, the film grossed $13.1 million and was the highest-grossing film at the box office for the weekend.[14] It was especially popular among Hispanics, who made up 32% of the audience on the opening weekend, and a writer for The Hollywood Reporter attributed the film's popularity to strong word of mouth.[15] The film was initially released in 2,730 theaters and expanded to 2,780 locations in its second week of release.[16] On December 7, the film was given a nationwide re-release in 1,259 theaters[16] shortly after it received two Independent Spirit Award nominations.[17] On the first weekend of its re-release, it grossed $752,000.[16]
After a total of 119 days, the film ended its American theatrical run in January 2013 with a gross of $41 million.[16] It grossed $12 million from other territories, making a worldwide total gross of $53 million.[18]
§Home media[edit]
End of Watch was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 22, 2013.[10] This release included 40 minutes of deleted scenes and an audio commentary of the film recorded by Ayer.[2] In the United States, the film has grossed $15.6 million from DVD sales and $9.2 million from Blu-ray sales, making a total of $24.8 million.[18]
§Reception[edit]
 End of Watch received positive reviews from critics, who praised Ayer's direction and the performances of Gyllenhaal and Peña. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 85% approval rating with an average rating of 7.1/10, based on 166 reviews. The website's consensus states: "End of Watch has the energy, devotion to characters, and charismatic performances to overcome the familiar pitfalls of its genre and handheld format."[19] At Metacritic, the film received a score of 68 out of 100, based on 37 critics, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[20]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling it "one of the best police movies in recent years, a virtuoso fusion of performances and often startling action",[21] and went on to name the film the fourth best of 2012.[22] Film critic James Berardinelli described End of Watch as "satisfying and emotionally potent ... a good, gritty drama of the sort that seems increasingly rare within the thriller genre", giving the film 3.5 out of 4 stars.[23] Olly Richards, writing for Empire, gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and summarized it as "a collection of cop-movie clichés but presented with sufficient flair and strong performances that the ride is enough, even if its on rails".[24] While New York '​s Bilge Ebiri found the film largely unrealistic and Ayer's direction "serviceable at best", he wrote that "Ayer and his cast appear to have so convincingly nailed the way these characters talk and act that you might not even notice the film slipping from workaday grit into out-and-out myth."[25]
Critics praised End of Watch for its avoidance of clichés often used in police films, particularly the buddy cop genre. Peter Debruge of Variety wrote that "Like a knife in the eye, End of Watch cuts past the cliches of standard police procedurals" and praised Ayer for depicting the LAPD as "an honorable and efficient organization of people working together".[26] Entertainment Weekly '​s Lisa Schwarzbaum, who gave the film an A-, described it as "one of the best American cop movies I've seen in a long time [and] also one of the few I've seen that pay serious attention to what cop life feels like, both on and off duty".[27] In a review for The Globe and Mail, however, Rick Groen opined that the focus on "saintly" police officers was less interesting than Ayer's "trademark grit and authenticity".[28]
The performances of Peña and Gyllenhaal were also praised by critics. Peter Debruge commended the realism that the two actors brought to their roles, saying, "Gyllenhaal and Peña so completely reinvent themselves in-character. Instead of wearing the roles like costumes or uniforms, they let the job seep into their skin."[26] The Los Angeles Times '​s Betsy Sharkey applauded the chemistry between the two lead actors, as well as their individual performances, writing, "As good as Gyllenhaal is in this, Peña nearly steals the show."[29] In a review for USA Today, Claudia Puig commended Gyllenhaal for "giv[ing] his best performance since Brokeback Mountain" and Peña for "shin[ing] with charisma".[30] Roger Ebert highlighted End of Watch as "one of the performances of [Peña's] career" and praised the performances given by the supporting cast, including Natalie Martinez and Anna Kendrick.[21]
An aspect of the film criticized in numerous reviews was its handheld camerawork and cinematography. Richard Corliss wrote for Time that the found footage style of cinematography "borders on the ludicrous" and that "the tactic fatally substitutes photo realism for fauxto realism".[31] Similarly, The Washington Post '​s Michael O'Sullivan found the aesthetic gimmicky, overused, and "an unnecessary distraction from the story".[32] On the other hand, Amy Biancolli of the San Francisco Chronicle felt that although the cinematography was inconsistent, "it's used to deepen its main characters" and "lends the film a lively intimacy".[33]
Other reviewers criticized the casting of minorities as gang members. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times pointed out that "almost all of [the crimes are] committed by the black and mainly brown people",[34] while The Globe and Mail '​s Rick Groen criticized "the script's penchant for overdemonizing the ghetto's black residents".[28]
§Awards and nominations[edit]



Awards and nominations

Award
Date of ceremony
Category
Nominee(s)
Result

Critics' Choice Movie Awards[35] January 10, 2013 Best Actor in an Action Movie Jake Gyllenhaal Nominated
Golden Trailer Awards[36] May 3, 2013 Best Independent TV Spot Open Road Films, Aspect Ratio Won
Best Action Open Road Films, Ignition Creative Nominated
Best Foreign Action Trailer Tobis Film Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards[37] February 23, 2013 Best Supporting Male Michael Peña Nominated
Best Cinematography Roman Vasyanov Nominated
Key Art Awards[38] October 24, 2013 Best Audio/Visual Technique Open Road Films, Aspect Ratio 2nd place
Best Trailer – Audio/Visual Open Road Films, Ignition Creative 3rd place
London Film Festival[39] October 20, 2012 Best Film Nominated
MTV Movie Awards[40] April 14, 2013 Best Latino Actor Michael Peña Nominated
National Board of Review[37] January 8, 2013 Top Ten Independent Films Won
Zurich Film Festival[41] September 29, 2012 Best International Feature Film Nominated

§References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "END OF WATCH (15)". British Board of Film Classification. September 5, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Atchity, Matt (January 24, 2013). "RT Interview: David Ayer Talks End of Watch". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Gettell, Oliver (September 19, 2012). "David Ayer writes his own rules for the cop genre in 'End of Watch'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
4.Jump up ^ Vejvoda, Jim (January 23, 2013). "End of Watch Blu-ray Interview With David Ayer". IGN. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Weintraub, Steve (September 5, 2011). "20 Things to Know About END OF WATCH From Our Exclusive Set Visit; Plus the First Two Official Images and Synopsis". Collider. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Carbone, Nick (September 21, 2012). "End of Watch Director David Ayer on Reinventing the Cop Genre". Time. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c d "End of Watch Production Notes" (Press release). StudioCanal. 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
8.Jump up ^ Lee, Chris (September 19, 2012). "Jake Gyllenhaal & Michael Peña on Their ‘End of Watch’ Bromance". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
9.Jump up ^ Shoard, Catherine (November 8, 2012). "Jake Gyllenhaal: ‘End of Watch changed my life’". The Guardian. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c d Radish, Christina. "David Ayer Talks END OF WATCH Blu-ray, Directing Arnold Schwarzenegger in TEN, and Says He’s Writing a WW2 Tank Movie". Collider. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
11.Jump up ^ "Jake Gyllenhaal Talks ‘End Of Watch’ At Toronto Premiere". Contactmusic.com. September 10, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
12.Jump up ^ "Release Date Set for End of Watch, Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena". ComingSoon.net. March 2, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Sneider, Jeff (July 23, 2012). "Sam Worthington in talks for Ayer's 'Ten'". Variety. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
14.Jump up ^ "End of Watch". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
15.Jump up ^ McClintock, Pamela (September 24, 2012). "Box Office Report: Underdog 'End of Watch' Comes From Behind to Win Weekend". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d "End of Watch – Box Office". The Numbers. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
17.Jump up ^ Erbland, Kate (November 30, 2012). "Did You Miss 'End of Watch" In Theaters? Open Road Films Is Fixing That". Film School Rejects. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
18.^ Jump up to: a b "End of Watch – Summary". The Numbers. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
19.Jump up ^ "End of Watch". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
20.Jump up ^ "End of Watch". Metacritic. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
21.^ Jump up to: a b Ebert, Roger (September 19, 2012). "End of Watch". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
22.Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger (December 27, 2012). "Ebert's Top Movies of 2012". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
23.Jump up ^ Berardinelli, James (September 20, 2012). "End of Watch". Reelviews.net. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
24.Jump up ^ Richards, Olly. "End Of Watch". Empire. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
25.Jump up ^ Ebiri, Bilge (September 22, 2012). "Movie Review: In End of Watch, the Cops Are Actually the Good Guys for Once". New York. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
26.^ Jump up to: a b Debruge, Peter (September 8, 2012). "Review: ‘End of Watch’". Variety. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
27.Jump up ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (October 19, 2012). "End of Watch (2012)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
28.^ Jump up to: a b Groen, Rick (September 20, 2012). "End of Watch: Saintly cops make for a sanctimonious action flick". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
29.Jump up ^ Sharkey, Betsy (September 20, 2012). "Movie review: Good cops on mean streets in 'End of Watch'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
30.Jump up ^ Puig, Claudia (September 21, 2012). "'End of Watch': Riveting, unnerving buddy-cop story". USA Today. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
31.Jump up ^ Corliss, Richard (September 21, 2014). "End of Watch: City of Angels in Blue". Time. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
32.Jump up ^ O'Sullivan, Michael (September 21, 2014). "A macho twist on buddy cops". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
33.Jump up ^ Biancolli, Amy (September 20, 2012). "'End of Watch' review: tense, eye catching". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
34.Jump up ^ Dargis, Manohla (September 20, 2012). "Cops Who Tote Guns and Video Cameras". The New York Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
35.Jump up ^ Kirby, Iona (January 11, 2013). "Jennifer Lawrence wins TWO Best Actress gongs as Silver Linings Playbook tops Critics' Choice Awards with four trophies". Daily Mail. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
36.Jump up ^ "The 14th Annual Golden Trailer Award Nominees". Golden Trailer Awards. 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
37.^ Jump up to: a b "End of Watch (2012) – Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
38.Jump up ^ "Winners 2013". Key Art Awards. 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
39.Jump up ^ "Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton to receive BFI Fellowships". British Film Institute. 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
40.Jump up ^ "Tr3s Celebrates the "2013 MTV Movie Awards" with the "2013 Best Latin Actor" Award". Entertainment Affair. March 15, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
41.Jump up ^ Mitchell, Wendy (October 1, 2012). "Zurich prizes go to Breaking Horizons, Der Prozess, Broken and The Imposter". Screen International. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
§External links[edit]
End of Watch at the Internet Movie Database
End of Watch at AllMovie
End of Watch at Box Office Mojo
End of Watch at Rotten Tomatoes
End of Watch at Metacritic


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Films directed by David Ayer


Harsh Times (2005) ·
 Street Kings (2008) ·
 End of Watch (2012) ·
 Sabotage (2014) ·
 Fury (2014)
 

  


Categories: 2012 films
2010s action thriller films
2010s crime thriller films
2010s crime drama films
Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department
American films
American action thriller films
American crime drama films
American crime thriller films
American independent films
English-language films
Exclusive Media films
Films set in 2011
Films set in Los Angeles, California
Films shot in Los Angeles, California
Found footage films
Gang films
Hood films
Films directed by David Ayer
StudioCanal films
Open Road Films films
Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films films






Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
العربية
Deutsch
Español
فارسی
Français
한국어
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Русский
Українська
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 8 February 2015, at 09:24.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_Watch












End of Watch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

This is a good article. Click here for more information.

End of Watch
End of Watch Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
David Ayer
Produced by
David Ayer
 Matt Jackson
 John Lesher
 Nigel Sinclair
Written by
David Ayer
Starring
Jake Gyllenhaal
Michael Peña
Anna Kendrick
Natalie Martinez
America Ferrera
Frank Grillo
David Harbour
Music by
David Sardy
Cinematography
Roman Vasyanov
Edited by
Dody Dorn

Production
 company

StudioCanal
Exclusive Media
 Crave Films
 CECTV Films
Emmett/Furla Films

Distributed by
Open Road Films

Release dates

September 8, 2012 (Toronto)
September 21, 2012 (United States)


Running time
 110 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
English, Spanish
Budget
$7.5 million
Box office
$53 million
End of Watch is a 2012 American drama thriller film written and directed by David Ayer. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as Brian Taylor and Miguel Zavala, two Los Angeles Police Department officers who work in South Central Los Angeles. The film focuses on their day-to-day police work, their dealings with a certain group of gang members, and their personal relationships.
Ayer, who had written several police procedural films previously, wanted End of Watch to focus more on the friendship between partners and honest police work rather than corruption. Gyllenhaal, Peña, and other cast members underwent an intensive training program to prepare for their roles as police officers. Filming took place in Los Angeles in August 2011 with a budget of $7.5 million.
End of Watch premiered on September 8, 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in American theaters on September 21, grossing over $53 million at the box office. The film was well received by critics and received a number of accolades, including two Independent Spirit Award nominations.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Release 4.1 Box office
4.2 Home media
5 Reception
6 Awards and nominations
7 References
8 External links

§Plot[edit]
Brian Taylor and Miguel Zavala are close friends and partners in the Newton Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in South Central Los Angeles. Taylor, a former Marine, is recording their police activities for a film project.
Upon responding to a public disturbance call, Tre, a Bloods gang member, yells racist insults at Zavala, who responds by accepting a fight. Zavala beats and arrests him, but wins Tre's respect for not charging him with assault. Later that night, Tre and his fellow Bloods gang members are attacked by a group of Sureños in a drive-by shooting and one of Tre's friends is killed. The next day, the officers respond to a noise complaint at a house party full of Sureños, where Taylor encounters a gang member named Big Evil, whose truck he later finds is filled with ornately-decorated firearms and a large amount of money.
Taylor and Zavala are awarded the Medal of Valor after rescuing two children from a house fire. Upon further investigating a house, they arrest a man who is also in possession of several ornate firearms, and is guarding a cell full of human trafficking victims. When ICE agents arrive, one agent informs the officers that the house is tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, and strongly urges them to "lay low" due to possible reprisals. Around this time, Taylor begins dating a woman named Janet, and Zavala's wife Gabby gives birth to their first child.
One night, Taylor and Zavala respond to a call from their fellow officer, Sook, and find her partner Van Hauser with a knife through his eye. He leads them to Sook, who is being savagely beaten nearby. After arresting the culprit, the officers learn that Van Hauser is not returning to patrol and Sook is leaving the force. Taylor marries Janet, and at their wedding Zavala tells Taylor that, should anything happen to him, he will take care of Janet. The next day, the officers perform a welfare check on an elderly woman. In her house, they discover drugs, dismembered corpses, and a message from the cartel. Unbeknownst to them, a cartel member has "green-lit" the officers, and the gangsters from the earlier drive-by begin following them.
Shortly after Janet gets pregnant, the officers are baited into chasing a reckless driver into an apartment complex, where they are ambushed by the same group of Latino gang members. They fight their way into an alley, where Taylor is shot in the chest. As Zavala desperately attends to his partner, the assassins arrive and shoot him several times in the back, killing him. Police backup eventually arrives and the gangsters are killed after refusing to surrender.
Taylor survives, having been shielded by Zavala's body. At Zavala's funeral, Taylor tries to deliver a eulogy, but only manages to say a few words: "He was my brother." In a flashback to the day of the shooting, Zavala recounts to Taylor a story from his teens before the two receive the call from dispatch.
§Cast[edit]
Jake Gyllenhaal as Brian Taylor
Michael Peña as Miguel "Mike" Zavala
Natalie Martinez as Gabby Zavala
Anna Kendrick as Janet Taylor
Frank Grillo as Sarge
America Ferrera as Orozco
Cody Horn as Davis
David Harbour as Van Hauser
Cle Sloan as Tre
Shondrella Avery as Bonita
Kristy Wu as Sook
§Production[edit]



Jake Gyllenhaal

Michael Peña

Jake Gyllenhaal (left) and Michael Peña (right) undertook five months of intensive training to prepare for their roles in the film.
David Ayer, who wrote and directed End of Watch, grew up in South Central Los Angeles and has had numerous friends in the LAPD.[2][3] He had written several films previously about police officers in Los Angeles, but while these depicted rogue and corrupt officers, he wanted to feature honest, ethical police work in End of Watch.[3] In contrast to his previous works, Ayer wanted to focus on the friendship between Taylor and Zavala and "have all the cop stuff drop away and become secondary to the chemistry of these guys".[4] Ayer wrote the screenplay over six days in December 2010.[5] Jaime FitzSimons, a longtime friend of Ayer and a former police officer with the LAPD, served as the film's technical advisor, and his experiences from working in Los Angeles inspired several plot points of the film.[2][6][7]:6
Jake Gyllenhaal was the first to be cast in the film; after receiving the script, he read it in an hour and immediately contacted Ayer.[3][5] Michael Peña was cast shortly after, following a string of auditions.[3] He and Gyllenhaal did not bond immediately but gradually became close friends over the process of training and filming.[3] Gyllenhaal and Peña undertook five months of intensive training under the guidance of FitzSimons to prepare for their roles—this included 12-hour ride-alongs with multiple Greater Los Angeles Area law enforcement agencies up to three times a week, as well as training in hand-to-hand combat, police tactics and weapons.[3][8] On his first ride-along, Gyllenhaal witnessed a murder during a drug bust.[9] Tactical training was also given to the other actors playing police officers, including David Harbour, America Ferrera, Cody Horn, and Frank Grillo.[7]:14
End of Watch was filmed on location in South Central Los Angeles, primarily in the area of the LAPD's Newton Division, one of the most violent and gang-affiliated areas of the city.[7]:16 Filming took place over 22 days in August 2011, with a budget of $7.5 million.[3][5] The film was shot in a combination of found footage style and traditional photography.[10] Most scenes were captured by four cameras simultaneously:[7]:6 these included a handheld camera operated by Gyllenhaal, cameras clipped to Gyllenhaal and Peña's vests, and dashboard footage from their patrol car.[3][6] Some scenes were shot entirely by Gyllenhaal.[10] An alternate ending of the film was shot where both of the main characters died, but Ayer ultimately chose to retain the original ending.[10]
§Release[edit]



 Michael Peña (left) and David Ayer promoting the film at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International
The world premiere of End of Watch was held on September 8, 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival.[11] It was originally scheduled to be released theatrically on September 28, 2012,[12] but the release was later moved to September 21.[13]
§Box office[edit]
Over its opening weekend in the United States, the film grossed $13.1 million and was the highest-grossing film at the box office for the weekend.[14] It was especially popular among Hispanics, who made up 32% of the audience on the opening weekend, and a writer for The Hollywood Reporter attributed the film's popularity to strong word of mouth.[15] The film was initially released in 2,730 theaters and expanded to 2,780 locations in its second week of release.[16] On December 7, the film was given a nationwide re-release in 1,259 theaters[16] shortly after it received two Independent Spirit Award nominations.[17] On the first weekend of its re-release, it grossed $752,000.[16]
After a total of 119 days, the film ended its American theatrical run in January 2013 with a gross of $41 million.[16] It grossed $12 million from other territories, making a worldwide total gross of $53 million.[18]
§Home media[edit]
End of Watch was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 22, 2013.[10] This release included 40 minutes of deleted scenes and an audio commentary of the film recorded by Ayer.[2] In the United States, the film has grossed $15.6 million from DVD sales and $9.2 million from Blu-ray sales, making a total of $24.8 million.[18]
§Reception[edit]
 End of Watch received positive reviews from critics, who praised Ayer's direction and the performances of Gyllenhaal and Peña. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 85% approval rating with an average rating of 7.1/10, based on 166 reviews. The website's consensus states: "End of Watch has the energy, devotion to characters, and charismatic performances to overcome the familiar pitfalls of its genre and handheld format."[19] At Metacritic, the film received a score of 68 out of 100, based on 37 critics, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[20]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling it "one of the best police movies in recent years, a virtuoso fusion of performances and often startling action",[21] and went on to name the film the fourth best of 2012.[22] Film critic James Berardinelli described End of Watch as "satisfying and emotionally potent ... a good, gritty drama of the sort that seems increasingly rare within the thriller genre", giving the film 3.5 out of 4 stars.[23] Olly Richards, writing for Empire, gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and summarized it as "a collection of cop-movie clichés but presented with sufficient flair and strong performances that the ride is enough, even if its on rails".[24] While New York '​s Bilge Ebiri found the film largely unrealistic and Ayer's direction "serviceable at best", he wrote that "Ayer and his cast appear to have so convincingly nailed the way these characters talk and act that you might not even notice the film slipping from workaday grit into out-and-out myth."[25]
Critics praised End of Watch for its avoidance of clichés often used in police films, particularly the buddy cop genre. Peter Debruge of Variety wrote that "Like a knife in the eye, End of Watch cuts past the cliches of standard police procedurals" and praised Ayer for depicting the LAPD as "an honorable and efficient organization of people working together".[26] Entertainment Weekly '​s Lisa Schwarzbaum, who gave the film an A-, described it as "one of the best American cop movies I've seen in a long time [and] also one of the few I've seen that pay serious attention to what cop life feels like, both on and off duty".[27] In a review for The Globe and Mail, however, Rick Groen opined that the focus on "saintly" police officers was less interesting than Ayer's "trademark grit and authenticity".[28]
The performances of Peña and Gyllenhaal were also praised by critics. Peter Debruge commended the realism that the two actors brought to their roles, saying, "Gyllenhaal and Peña so completely reinvent themselves in-character. Instead of wearing the roles like costumes or uniforms, they let the job seep into their skin."[26] The Los Angeles Times '​s Betsy Sharkey applauded the chemistry between the two lead actors, as well as their individual performances, writing, "As good as Gyllenhaal is in this, Peña nearly steals the show."[29] In a review for USA Today, Claudia Puig commended Gyllenhaal for "giv[ing] his best performance since Brokeback Mountain" and Peña for "shin[ing] with charisma".[30] Roger Ebert highlighted End of Watch as "one of the performances of [Peña's] career" and praised the performances given by the supporting cast, including Natalie Martinez and Anna Kendrick.[21]
An aspect of the film criticized in numerous reviews was its handheld camerawork and cinematography. Richard Corliss wrote for Time that the found footage style of cinematography "borders on the ludicrous" and that "the tactic fatally substitutes photo realism for fauxto realism".[31] Similarly, The Washington Post '​s Michael O'Sullivan found the aesthetic gimmicky, overused, and "an unnecessary distraction from the story".[32] On the other hand, Amy Biancolli of the San Francisco Chronicle felt that although the cinematography was inconsistent, "it's used to deepen its main characters" and "lends the film a lively intimacy".[33]
Other reviewers criticized the casting of minorities as gang members. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times pointed out that "almost all of [the crimes are] committed by the black and mainly brown people",[34] while The Globe and Mail '​s Rick Groen criticized "the script's penchant for overdemonizing the ghetto's black residents".[28]
§Awards and nominations[edit]



Awards and nominations

Award
Date of ceremony
Category
Nominee(s)
Result

Critics' Choice Movie Awards[35] January 10, 2013 Best Actor in an Action Movie Jake Gyllenhaal Nominated
Golden Trailer Awards[36] May 3, 2013 Best Independent TV Spot Open Road Films, Aspect Ratio Won
Best Action Open Road Films, Ignition Creative Nominated
Best Foreign Action Trailer Tobis Film Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards[37] February 23, 2013 Best Supporting Male Michael Peña Nominated
Best Cinematography Roman Vasyanov Nominated
Key Art Awards[38] October 24, 2013 Best Audio/Visual Technique Open Road Films, Aspect Ratio 2nd place
Best Trailer – Audio/Visual Open Road Films, Ignition Creative 3rd place
London Film Festival[39] October 20, 2012 Best Film Nominated
MTV Movie Awards[40] April 14, 2013 Best Latino Actor Michael Peña Nominated
National Board of Review[37] January 8, 2013 Top Ten Independent Films Won
Zurich Film Festival[41] September 29, 2012 Best International Feature Film Nominated

§References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "END OF WATCH (15)". British Board of Film Classification. September 5, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Atchity, Matt (January 24, 2013). "RT Interview: David Ayer Talks End of Watch". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Gettell, Oliver (September 19, 2012). "David Ayer writes his own rules for the cop genre in 'End of Watch'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
4.Jump up ^ Vejvoda, Jim (January 23, 2013). "End of Watch Blu-ray Interview With David Ayer". IGN. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Weintraub, Steve (September 5, 2011). "20 Things to Know About END OF WATCH From Our Exclusive Set Visit; Plus the First Two Official Images and Synopsis". Collider. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Carbone, Nick (September 21, 2012). "End of Watch Director David Ayer on Reinventing the Cop Genre". Time. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c d "End of Watch Production Notes" (Press release). StudioCanal. 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
8.Jump up ^ Lee, Chris (September 19, 2012). "Jake Gyllenhaal & Michael Peña on Their ‘End of Watch’ Bromance". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
9.Jump up ^ Shoard, Catherine (November 8, 2012). "Jake Gyllenhaal: ‘End of Watch changed my life’". The Guardian. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c d Radish, Christina. "David Ayer Talks END OF WATCH Blu-ray, Directing Arnold Schwarzenegger in TEN, and Says He’s Writing a WW2 Tank Movie". Collider. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
11.Jump up ^ "Jake Gyllenhaal Talks ‘End Of Watch’ At Toronto Premiere". Contactmusic.com. September 10, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
12.Jump up ^ "Release Date Set for End of Watch, Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena". ComingSoon.net. March 2, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Sneider, Jeff (July 23, 2012). "Sam Worthington in talks for Ayer's 'Ten'". Variety. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
14.Jump up ^ "End of Watch". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
15.Jump up ^ McClintock, Pamela (September 24, 2012). "Box Office Report: Underdog 'End of Watch' Comes From Behind to Win Weekend". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d "End of Watch – Box Office". The Numbers. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
17.Jump up ^ Erbland, Kate (November 30, 2012). "Did You Miss 'End of Watch" In Theaters? Open Road Films Is Fixing That". Film School Rejects. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
18.^ Jump up to: a b "End of Watch – Summary". The Numbers. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
19.Jump up ^ "End of Watch". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
20.Jump up ^ "End of Watch". Metacritic. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
21.^ Jump up to: a b Ebert, Roger (September 19, 2012). "End of Watch". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
22.Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger (December 27, 2012). "Ebert's Top Movies of 2012". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
23.Jump up ^ Berardinelli, James (September 20, 2012). "End of Watch". Reelviews.net. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
24.Jump up ^ Richards, Olly. "End Of Watch". Empire. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
25.Jump up ^ Ebiri, Bilge (September 22, 2012). "Movie Review: In End of Watch, the Cops Are Actually the Good Guys for Once". New York. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
26.^ Jump up to: a b Debruge, Peter (September 8, 2012). "Review: ‘End of Watch’". Variety. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
27.Jump up ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (October 19, 2012). "End of Watch (2012)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
28.^ Jump up to: a b Groen, Rick (September 20, 2012). "End of Watch: Saintly cops make for a sanctimonious action flick". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
29.Jump up ^ Sharkey, Betsy (September 20, 2012). "Movie review: Good cops on mean streets in 'End of Watch'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
30.Jump up ^ Puig, Claudia (September 21, 2012). "'End of Watch': Riveting, unnerving buddy-cop story". USA Today. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
31.Jump up ^ Corliss, Richard (September 21, 2014). "End of Watch: City of Angels in Blue". Time. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
32.Jump up ^ O'Sullivan, Michael (September 21, 2014). "A macho twist on buddy cops". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
33.Jump up ^ Biancolli, Amy (September 20, 2012). "'End of Watch' review: tense, eye catching". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
34.Jump up ^ Dargis, Manohla (September 20, 2012). "Cops Who Tote Guns and Video Cameras". The New York Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
35.Jump up ^ Kirby, Iona (January 11, 2013). "Jennifer Lawrence wins TWO Best Actress gongs as Silver Linings Playbook tops Critics' Choice Awards with four trophies". Daily Mail. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
36.Jump up ^ "The 14th Annual Golden Trailer Award Nominees". Golden Trailer Awards. 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
37.^ Jump up to: a b "End of Watch (2012) – Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
38.Jump up ^ "Winners 2013". Key Art Awards. 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
39.Jump up ^ "Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton to receive BFI Fellowships". British Film Institute. 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
40.Jump up ^ "Tr3s Celebrates the "2013 MTV Movie Awards" with the "2013 Best Latin Actor" Award". Entertainment Affair. March 15, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
41.Jump up ^ Mitchell, Wendy (October 1, 2012). "Zurich prizes go to Breaking Horizons, Der Prozess, Broken and The Imposter". Screen International. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
§External links[edit]
End of Watch at the Internet Movie Database
End of Watch at AllMovie
End of Watch at Box Office Mojo
End of Watch at Rotten Tomatoes
End of Watch at Metacritic


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Films directed by David Ayer


Harsh Times (2005) ·
 Street Kings (2008) ·
 End of Watch (2012) ·
 Sabotage (2014) ·
 Fury (2014)
 

  


Categories: 2012 films
2010s action thriller films
2010s crime thriller films
2010s crime drama films
Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department
American films
American action thriller films
American crime drama films
American crime thriller films
American independent films
English-language films
Exclusive Media films
Films set in 2011
Films set in Los Angeles, California
Films shot in Los Angeles, California
Found footage films
Gang films
Hood films
Films directed by David Ayer
StudioCanal films
Open Road Films films
Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films films






Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
العربية
Deutsch
Español
فارسی
Français
한국어
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Русский
Українська
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 8 February 2015, at 09:24.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_Watch