End of Watch

This is another effective cop movie from Training Day writer David Ayer, though it has none of that film's cynical wit and is, in many ways, its polar opposite. Taking the horror genre's found-footage gimmick to the mean streets of Los Angeles, we see partners Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña stumble across the activities of a Mexican drug cartel, with violent and tragic repercussions. The film is shot almost wholly on handheld cameras (explained by Gyllenhaal's character being enrolled on a film course, and documenting his job as part of a project), and the relentless shakycam visuals may irritate some viewers. Much of the movie's appeal relies on the convincing relationship between the wisecracking cop duo, with equal weight given to their personal and professional lives. But though appealingly acted and well directed, this is at times crudely manipulative, with the LAPD implausibly painted as spotless saints and the criminals sketched as barely human.