End of Watch (1/22/2013)

Rated R for strong violence, some disturbing images, pervasive language including sexual references, and some drug use.

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena

Directed by David Ayer (Harsh Times)

This is one of the best movies I have seen this year, but I don’t think I ever want to watch it again.

End Of Watch stars Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as young Los Angeles police officers Taylor and Zavala as they patrol the city’s meanest streets of south central Los Angeles. Giving the story a gripping, first-person immediacy, the action unfolds through footage from the handheld HD cameras of the police officers, gang members, surveillance cameras, and citizens caught in the line of fire to create a riveting portrait of the city’s most dangerous corners, the cops who risk their lives there every day, and the price they and their families are forced to pay.

I can almost read the emails now: Why did you go see this movie? Why did you review it? And for the love of all things holy, why did you score it “Theater Worthy?”

First of all, those are all valid questions.

Secondly, because this is the number one movie in America and you and I both know our students are lining up to see it. So let’s talk about the movie so you don’t have to sit through 109 minutes of violence and profanity.

I’ve never experienced a “ride along” with the LAPD, so I have no evidence to back up this next statement, but End of Watch is raw and realistic. On the other hand, I do know that director David Ayer has penned some of the grittiest police dramas of the last decade (movies like Training Day, Dark Blue and Harsh Times). So when I say that the story is gritty, gripping and powerful, you should believe me.

I need to be clear…there is a big difference from filthy and gritty. Yes there are over 325 F-bombs in this movie and yes I think that’s some serious overkill. But Ayer wants to make you feel dirty and uncomfortable – Mission Accomplished!

As if the language isn’t bad enough, there is the violence, the graphic crime scenes and the intensity of knowing something bad is going to happen – an intensity I haven’t felt since Hurt Locker. There is one scene when a police officer gets stabed in the eye with a knife…that is still sticking out of his skull and a “shoot-out” scene that is more authentic and less special effects.

Then there’s the cast. From their casual conversations in the cruiser to their demeanor at the crime scenes Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña are completely believable as beat cops in south central Los Angeles. I was invested in both of their characters within 5 minutes and now several hours later, I’m still thinking about them.

So if I were considering just the story, cast and the realism I would give this movie a “Worth Buying.” If I was considering just profanity and the violence, it would be a “Skip it”…since End of Watch is all of the above I’m giving it a “Theater Worthy.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
I think we all agree on kids not seeing this one.

Conversation Starter

1. We see from the very beginning that Officer Taylor and Officer Zavala are very close friends and have “each other’s backs.” What do you think it takes to have friends like that?


2. Would you like to have friends like that?


3. Do you think you could be that kind of friend?


4. Read Proverbs 18:24
   
   There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.
   
   Have you ever watched “friends” destroy each other? What happened?


5. What do you think “but a real friend sticks closer than a brother” means?


6. What can you do this week to be a friend that sticks closer than a brother?