Mary Conti’s review published on Letterboxd:
It's really disappointing to me that a film like End of Watch is a better director away from being a really great movie. And I mean a REALLY GREAT MOVIE. Because if it weren't for the poor directorial choices that brought me out of the film, this easily could have been the best cop movie for the modern era. It's that good.
So what are the film's strengths that make it just that good? The writing is surprisingly good coming from David Ayer, because here he's finally learned to strip his film of useless plot details and actually give us a simplified cop film, and allows us to become more involved with the characters, and just see events of the day to day life of an LAPD cop (or at least Ayer's fictionalized version of it). Without having to worry about a larger plot (although there is a running one about the Mexican cartel here) we get to focus on a series of vignettes, each of which are both entertaining and captivating, in spite of how simplistic (and expected) they are.
But the film's major strength lies in its cast, which has some fantastic chemistry. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena feel like they've been doing this together forever, and their friendship and lives are believable. Even the supporting cast featuring Anna Kendrick, Natalie Martinez, Frank Grillo, and America Ferrera bring some believably to their roles. It's a buddy cop movie where we actually care about the guys in the film.
But where does it go wrong? Well, David Ayer is a horrible director. I understand why he chose to use the found footage format, but he has no idea what he's doing. Half the time he resorts to not even having the cameras involved, even in scenes where there are cameras. It's distracting because I'm spending most of the time wondering who is holding the camera in what scene or if there even is a camera, and it brings me out of the film, both emotionally and mentally.
Perhaps if David Ayer had handed the reins to another more experienced director, End of Watch might be topping my list of Best of 2012. It's a great film with good performances and a nice involving Hollywood introspection of the LAPD, but its wacky style prevents it from being really fantastic. But it is still worth it.
Side Note: I'd like to think that this is a half sequel to 2005's Jarhead.