End of Watch

[sikmansam]

My dad took me to a screening of this on Wednesday at the Hilton Courthouse thanks to the Jaeger Film Club in the GQ magazine. Apparently they've done one screening before this, so its a relatively new thing, which means there will probably be more (its definitely worth checking the magazine monthly, although its more of a competition than a first come first serve). Its a shame really, because there was only about 12 of us in the cinema, and the organizers had expected a full house. There were canapes and drinks, free GQ magazines with customizable Bond covers, and nice popcorn bags below our seats.

And i quite enjoyed the film too. The hand-held camera was irritating to begin with, but as the story got more engrossing that didn't matter. The performances are very strong from Gyllenhaal and Pena, and after you get over the awful bad guys (they mainly just swear and didn't scare me in the slightest) the plots also rewarding. 7/10

My review:

[kevinknapman]

Saw this last month. It's a fairly enjoyable, occasionally exciting thriller. Yes it's depiction of good honest cops feels novel on the big screen but it's not really anything you don't see on TV week in week out on the superior Southland. As mentioned above the bad guys are awful. Dodgy acting, comically inept and with stupid names like 'Wicked' and 'Big Evil', they jar with the more realistic elements of the film. Still worth seeing though for the relationship between Gyllenhaal and Pena, which is quite touching and well played. The best moments of the film involve just the two of them driving around LA talking. Not great and overly familiar but watchable enough

My full review: http://www.thefilmpilgrim.com/reviews/e ... eview/9273

[JamesLovesSleep]

Just grabbed a ticket to the screenings on 15th of this month. Very much looking forwrad to this, the trailer really reminded me of playing Grand Theft Auto.

[jcolombi]

Just got back from a 100% full portsmouth vue.

What can I say amazing suspensful cop thriller/drama which some great comic elements. I loved the handheld camera and thought it worked well.

8/10

[The Sparrow]

I really wanted to smack the "fookin" bad guy, he was so irritating.
Did anyone else find the ending unbelievable?

[spoiler]It brought me right out of the film when I saw J.G. in the church[/spoiler]

[tsoiboy]

Saw this tonight at O2 Greenwich and to an almost full screening and it is a pretty large screen.

I really enjoyed this cop buddy film. It was brutal and graphic in some scenes but all of which was appropriate for the film and added to it. The on screen chemistry of Gyllenhaal and Pena was great and believable. Not much in strong female characters and the film focused primarily on the two leads. Leaving the villains to look rather two dimensional. The tension builds up slowly and you know that it is not going to end well. I think the ending could have been braver and different but what was shown was fine.

The jerky film camera shots and different camera angles was a bit distracting and the film attempted to be different in this way to a the story that has been on well trodden ground.

Quite entertaining.

8/10

[Cortone]

100% full at Leeds.

Once I settled into the camera/filming style (or maybe more realistically, once it had a "third party" filming), this moved to being a really strong film. Loved the buddy and the family relationships, and even the 'good in the baddies', which made this much more than other films of a similar approach (it reminded me of the Raid at times, but I hated that film). And such tension.... Foresaw the ending because...[spoiler]I could see JG breathing.[/spoiler] Nice to see America Ferrera (Betty Suarez - Ugly Betty) too...

It took me a while to fully engage, and people next to me left about 30 mins in, but by the end, this was a really absorbing film.

[Diane65]

A very good action/police film, the jerky camera and the initial shots made me feel a bit queasy. Male leads were brilliant, very likeable characters kept me gripped to the very end. 8/10 100% full but a few did leave.
Lovely company of akh43 and steve.

[julieisbored]

Enjoyed the story but the hand held perspective I feel as now been overdone, not least because some of the shots make me feel a little sick. Thought it didn't really need this gimick. I would have enjoyed it more if had been shot traditionally so can only give 6/10

[LondonCityNights]

Anyone at Greenwich notice the annoying echo in the room? Is it like that for every film?