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Most cop movies live or die by the chemistry between the leads. End of Watch features excellent chemistry between Gyllenhaal and Pena, which elevates the film a notch above the typical cop drama. The found-footage style of filmmaking works pretty well for police movies in that it adds a grittiness necessary to realistically represent the story. There are plenty of tense moments and thrilling sequences to satisfy any action junkie, but the moments focusing on the characters and their lives is where End of Watch shines. The point of this film is to portray a realistic life as a police officer in the LA ghetto and the film definitely succeeds in that regard.

Shot in a quasi-documentary style with the (unsuccessful) aim of increasing the gritty realism the film relies upon for gravitas, writer-director David Ayer instead should've put more effort into crafting a story that doesn't depend on genre clichés and character stereotypes so frequently. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena share a naturalistic chemistry as the brothers in blue – their abuse-slinging conversations whilst patrolling the streets are often both funny and touching – however they are constantly fighting an uphill battle against cartoonish criminals, outlandish plot contrivances and Ayer's occasionally over-the-top dialogue. And for the love of cinematic common sense, I wish filmmakers would treat baddies brandishing AK47s with more respect; they aren't that bad at hitting a target 20 metres away, especially when there are four of them. A frustrating crime pic that never reaches its potential.

Two LADP cops film their day to day lives while driving through their precinct, responding to calls and busting down crime scenes. LA thugs soon catch up on the filming project and also start recording their daily routine, not with their phones but with giant video cameras you may remember from the nineties. The result of all this nonsense is two hours of irritating shaky camera-work, earbleedingly dumb conversation, severed limbs in every house that is entered and irrelevant scene upon scene of the cops' personal lives in between duty shifts. The film goes out of its way to make the viewer thoroughly apathetic to the events that are unfolding and the idiotic characters on display. Though I'm sure the movie aimed for the exact opposite, one can't possibly take any of it seriously. 3/10

I really don't understand people who rate this movie so high. First of all, there is no storyline here. It's all about two cops who are going after drug dealers and because they didn't have enough experience get hurt by the end. Absolutely boring. I don't remember any dialog that is worth while. Acting was average because of the shallow script. Directing was terrible. It's like cop Blair Witch Project with that shaky cam and we've already seen this kind of directing in so many movies before. If you expected to see a good cop movie like Colors, Training Day, Narc, Harsh Times etc. you will be disappointed. Even movies like Dark Blue, Cop Land, Brooklyn's Finest, Internal Affairs etc. are better than this. Really, nothing memorable exists here except high rating on IMDb and I hope it's gonna change soon 'cause it doesn't deserve it.

I intend to write reviews of movies where my opinion goes against the majority opinion. Unfortunately I usually see movies either in 2nd run theaters or on TV, which is okay if the movies are over a year old or classic films, but is generally too late to matter when it is new movies. But I'm putting my two cents in on this film. This flick received generally good reviews from both the public, and critics. I'm not sure I was watching the same movie as everyone else. First, the hand-held camera gambit was annoying. I know that the thought was for it to add an artistic element, but it was just plain perturbing. It reminded me of my father taking home movies back in the day. A lot of the "action" scenes were just fast-moving, indiscernible images, as though the camera were being flipped and spun around like a football. If not for the audio I would not have had a clue as to what was going on. Also, everything was too dark, meaning that there was a need for more daylight scenes. And it looked like scenes were spliced together ad hoc. Maybe that was part of the alleged "artistry" attempt in the movie. Some of the scenes of the evil Mexican gang were almost funny in their absurdity. There was one scene where the Mexican outlaws were riding in a van and shouting angry, obscenity-laced threats at each other in a thick Hispanic accent. I leaned over and asked my co-viewer sitting next to me what they were yelling about and she shrugged her shoulders and then whispered to me that she thought they were debating the scientific possibilities of inter-galactic travel. It was the high point of the movie. I'm not sure how anyone could care about the two main characters. Any attempt they made to show some personal depth and heartfelt emotion came off as either false, or aggravatingly macho. Just not good. When everyone, good guys and bad guys alike, were apparently killed in one scene near the end, I felt a relief that the bewildering and/or poorly drawn characters were gone and I would soon be in my car going home. I have seen a lot of movies in my day and this one may not be the worst, but it is probably in the bottom 20%.

Unlike many of the current crop of macho cop dramas, End of Watch plays mainly to the grit of the daily challenges of patrolling the mean streets of South Central LA in the "Shootin' Newton" division. Unlike the stunning LA Confidential, with a historical story line, End of Watch is done in the cinema ver'ite' style - in a realistic real cops on duty in the LA war zone frame. The casting in this movie is picture perfect, with each actor giving in depth performances.The story line brings the Mexican / US drug problem into crystal clarity. Initially, the story fails to coalesce, and the video cam work is a bit disjointed and over done at the outset, but once you settle in to cinematic method, the film gets a hold on you. Definitely a movie for any law enforcement aficionados collection.