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By Jack Rico, NBC Latino

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[Photo courtesy Universal Studios]

By Gabrielle Bondi, The Young Folks

Growing up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Chicago, I was surrounded by people who were police officers, firemen, etc. But the thing was… I hardly ever saw them on-duty, or even in uniform. To me, they were hard-working people, just like anyone else. They weren’t like the characters you see on TV or in movies. In fact, I had never seen a movie that as closely captured what I saw from my neighbors or friends’ parents until I saw End of Watch.

After writing several films about corrupt cops (most notably Training Day), director David Ayer spoke about changing it up, “With Training Day and corruption, no one was really doing movies like that. Gangster cops were new. Then, we get 10 years of that. And now to flip it again, it’s like ‘Look at the way cops really are.’ I want to make the most realistic cop movie ever.”

That’s what Ayer did with End of Watch. The film follows two LAPD officers, Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Peña), as they police the dangerous streets of LA. After an encounter with a notorious cartel, their lives on put on the line as they become the targets. That’s just only one element of End of Watch. It’s really more of story about these partners, their friendship, and their families. While there are action and lots of intense moments, it’s balanced out with emotional and comedic scenes, as the two joke around or have heart-to-hearts over their own love lives. It’s at these moments when the movie truly shines. When I told Ayer this, he agreed, describing his favorite scene of the film:

“My favorite scene is the scene where Jake asks Mike for advice about getting married. There’s something that’s just so real and so simple about it that you believe it… Everything is talked about in all these indirect ways, the way you do in real life, and the strength of Mike’s character comes through. You realize how solid this guy is. And he’s like the friend everyone wishes they had. And you see how much Jake is wrestling with this question. and not in a Hollywood way, like a personal, real way. I was very happy with how that scene came out.”

If it weren’t for the chemistry between Peña and Gyllenhaal, those scenes wouldn’t have been as good as they were. They were literally in sync with each other, on top of giving such distinct and great performances. The two actors didn’t know each other from before and come from different backgrounds. Peña grew up near the Pilsen area (a pre-dominantly Mexican-American community) in Chicago, while Gyllenhaal grew up in California, with parents who were Hollywood screenwriters and directors. So, how did these two develop such a wonderful onscreen camaraderie? Pena said it took them like “two months” during training to get to know each other and form a bond.

After seeing the film, you almost can’t deny that they had form a real friendship, all their scenes together came out so naturally. I asked if any scenes were improvised. “98% of it was written. And I always do that in every– like in Crash for instance. There was these little words here and there, little moments, pieces of behavior.” Peña turned to Ayer. “I remember when I told you it’s all about behavior.” Ayer nodded, “I said, ‘Dude, just get in the car and you’ll know what I’m talking about.’”

“Sometimes people just do behavior, and they’re not even doing the scene, which sucks especially for a director, chewing on the toothpick, looking like ‘I don’t know what you’re doing.’ But it’s when you know a scene so well — like the last scene, for instance, was almost word-for-word. That one was so specific,” Peña said. “You know, there were like 5 words probably improvised. And its little things, you just want to paint the picture. We were here for like 5 months, reading those things. Any stuff that was improvised was talked about already time and time again.”

Ayer says that many discoveries were made during the rehearsal process. “A lot of times we would be rehearsing, and stuff would come up, and man, that’s great. And then finally, when I got to set, I’d sit and write that stuff down. So even new material or anything that’s improvisation are all discoveries along the way. So the main characters… it’s hard to mad-lib as a character and have it be relevant and end up in the movie. But these guys knew their characters, and they could speak as the characters. They could do anything as these characters. They were so locked in.” Peña wholeheartedly agreed, saying that he “really felt like the character.” He goes on to say, “As an actor this is one of the truly fulfilling performances that I have done.”

It wasn’t only the two main characters that felt real, but everything and everyone surrounding. Technically, the movie is filmed like “found footage.” It felt and looked like a video game at times. Ayer and crew had to invent new technology in order to get certain camera angles to give off this insanely personal vibe. “Basically, we had to invent a camera system to get some of the photography because in the real world, cops wear these little wearable HD cameras, and I wanted to simulate that. So I took normal cinema camera and had it miniaturized. And then we made vests that these guys could wear, so they’ll run around fighting… You get this point-of-view kind of photography that no one’s been able to get. It’s the idea that cameras are in the world with these people and characters. There are a couple scenes where Jake shot on a handheld consumer camera.” Peña joked that at times he forgot he was even in the movie because of the way it was filmed.

Another authentic touch to film was the inclusion of female cops. They’re often under-represented or misrepresented in media. It was nice to see Cody Horn and America Ferrera bring two realistic female cops to life in the film. It was important to Ayer that the film showed how diverse the LAPD is. “Some of the badass– some of the best cops out there are these female cops. These badass Mexican-American cops are some hard fucking shit. It’s like ‘you don’t want to fuck with them.”

Pena interjected, “Well, they have this great command voice too.”

Ayer replied, “The mom voice.”

Pena continued, “They have that thing, and they know they have that thing. And especially with criminals, when you see that, you’re like ‘what… the fuck?’ It’s just, it’s kind of…”

“A different kind of power and they know how to use it,” Ayer finished.

One thing I was concerned with, going into the film, was the portrayal of Hispanics and the Latino community. I think movies tend to lean more toward hyperbole than something realistic. I was hoping that since this movie is marketing itself on being authentic, real, and all that, that it wouldn’t disappoint that regard. Fortunately, it didn’t. I asked Ayer how he tried to find that balance between cliché and real life. What many people may not know is that Ayer’s wife is Mexican; he grew up in a Mexican neighborhood, speaks Spanish, and has even lived in Mexico for a time. He said, “It’s part of me. It’s part of who I am. So I understand the culture really well. And it’s not something that I’m putting into it, you know, to add flavor or whatever. It’s something I wanted to express and show people who don’t know the culture. So, all the stereotypes, the quinceañera…” He paused. “ Like Mike’s wife in the movie, Gabby (Natalie Martinez), who’s fantastic, wanted to show a normal guy. He’s just a normal guy. He’s a guy living his life.”

That encompasses almost everything that End of Watch is about. It’s about these normal, average folk that I’ve seen walking their dogs outside, mowing their lawn, chitchatting with neighbors, etc. as I grew up. Then, I loved how it took that and zeroed in on two guys who are best friends, just living the life they have. Going back to when we were talking about the chemistry between Gyllenhaal and Peña, the director put it into perspective. “The whole movie — the whole point of the movie is that friendship. It was the most important thing to me. It was more important than the action, more important than anything else. The best scene in the movie is two guys in a car talking, talking about girlfriends, wives. And it’s riveting. The reason it’s so compelling is because they’re so believable. You believe these guys are best friends. And that they are from different backgrounds is what makes that friendship interesting.” In turn, that’s exactly what made End of Watch one of the most captivating films I’ve seen all year.

End of Watch hits theaters Friday, September 21st.

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This article was first published in The Young Folks.

Gabrielle Bondi is 22 years old and lives in the beautiful city of Chicago. She enjoys every aspect of the arts, included but not limited to, music, film, literature and drawing. Gaby is very open-minded and adventurous. She likes making outrageous plans and scheming their execution. She usually goes to the movies 2-3 times a week. Yes, she’s that obsessed. She’s also obsessed with Twitter and constantly checking it throughout the day, even when she’s not supposed to…

By Gabrielle Bondi, The Young Folks

September is finally here! The time for awards season movies has just begun, and I’m pretty excited for this Fall’s new releases. This month begins with a slow start and eventually gains momentum with some interesting releases. See what movies you should keep in mind for the next 30 days.

Friday, September 7^th

• The Words – Watch the trailer – The cheesy voiceover and oddly edited trailer for this movie almost made me decide to leave it off this list. However, I don’t think it’s fair to judge this movie on a badly cut trailer. This romantic drama has a pretty cool cast that includes Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Dennis Quaid & Jeremy Irons. I’m looking forward to seeing it in a few days. (Wide)
• The Cold Light of Day – Watch the trailer – I hadn’t heard of this movie until I looked up this month’s release dates. What caught my eye was the cast. Henry Cavill (the new Superman), Sigourney Weaver and Bruce Willis star in this story about a young Wall Street broker’s whose family is kidnapped. (Wide)

Friday, September 14^th

• Finding Nemo in 3D – Watch the trailer – The much-loved Pixar classic is returning to the big screen in the third dimension. This will be especially fun for kids and folks who missed seeing this wonderful animated film on the big screen the first time. I’m not so much clamoring on seeing it 3D, more like just wanting to see it in a theater again. (Wide)
• Resident Evil: Retribution – Read our Comic Con report – Another Resident Evil? Yes. It’s probably not the last, so you might as well embrace them for what they are: mindless and stylish fun. (Wide; 3D; IMAX)
• Arbitrage – Watch the trailer – Richard Gere stars in this Wall Street thriller. I like Gere, and the rest of the cast is pretty cool too. I loved Brit Marling in Another Earth, so it’s nice to see her play a rather different role. My only hope is that this movie doesn’t become too Lifetime-Movie-esque. (Limited) 

  

  Liberal Arts

• Liberal Arts – Watch the trailer – Normally, I would mentally file a movie like this onto my “Redbox it” list. But Elizabeth Olsen is in it, and she makes anything automatically fascinating. (Limited)
• The Master – Read our review – It’s been three weeks since I’ve seen The Master, and I still can’t get it out of my head. In my pseudo-review of the film, I share my initial reaction to the film. While it’s not for everyone, I still urge everyone to check out this movie. The performances are mind-blowingly incredible. (Limited)
• Stolen – Read our Coming Soon article – Nicolas Cage is back in this action thriller. I’ll be honest; this movie doesn’t look that great. Yet, I’m curious to check out just because it’ll be entertaining in a wholly different way than it’s supposed to be. (Limited)

Friday, September 21^st

• Dredd – Watch the trailer – This movie screened at Comic Con, and there was quite a bit of praise for it by fans. This Judge Dredd remake isn’t up my alley. However, I’m sure there are quite a bit of people who are interested in checking this one out. (Wide; 3D)
• End of Watch – Read our Comic Con report – I was very impressed with the footage they showed at Comic Con this summer. It’s like real-life Cops. It’s captivating with great, realistic performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña. (Wide) 

  

  The Perks of Being a Wallflower

• Trouble with the Curve – Watch the trailer – Clint Eastwood is back to acting in this new drama about an ailing baseball scout. Amy Adams plays his daughter, and Justin Timberlake is the love interest. I love all these actors, so the fact that it’s a baseball drama isn’t exactly deterring me completely. (Wide)
• House at the End of the Street – Watch the trailer – I absolutely adore Jennifer Lawrence, and that’s the only reason I’m slightly tempted to see this movie. It looks like a typical horror film, hard to say if it’s anything special. (Wide)
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Read our review – I saw this movie a week ago, and it is truly one of the best movies of the year. If it’s playing nearby, you MUST see it. The writing and acting is fantastic. It’s heartfelt, funny and relatable. I gave it 10/10 stars. I’m serious. Go see it. (Limited)

Friday, September 28^th

• Hotel Transylvania – Watch the trailer – I hope this new animated film surprises me just as much as ParaNorman did. The trailer does it make it cute and possibly very funny. (Wide; 3D)
• Looper – Read our Comic Con report – To say I’m excited for Looper is an understatement. I love the cast. I love the storyline. It’s more than a mindless action film. From what I saw at Comic Con, it’s going to be awesome. (Wide)
• Won’t Back Down – Watch the trailer – I saw the trailer a few months ago, and it barely made an impression on me. As with most of the films coming out lately, the main thing that strikes my fancy is the cast. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis are two of Hollywood’s best actresses. (Wide)

Other September releases:

• Hello I Must Be Going – 9/7 (Limited)
• The Inbetweeners Movie – 9/7 (Limited)
• Bringing Up Bobby – 9/28 (Limited)
• Starbuck – 9/28 (Limited)

This article was first published in The Young Folks.

 Gabruielle Bondi is 22 years old and lives in the beautiful city of Chicago. She enjoys every aspect of the arts, included but not limited to, music, film, literature and drawing. Gaby is very open-minded and adventurous. She likes making outrageous plans and scheming their execution. She usually goes to the movies 2-3 times a week. Yes, she’s that obsessed. She’s also obsessed with Twitter and constantly checking it throughout the day, even when she’s not supposed to…