ARMED AND DANGEROUS

Jake Gyllenhaal hits his stride as ex-Marine turned police officer Brian Taylor in End of Watch, a gritty, unvarnished urban police drama set on the streets of South-Central Los Angeles. Co-starring the impeccable Michael Pena as his partner, Officer Mike Zavala, and written and directed by David Ayer(Training Day), the film examines the brotherhood that forms between cocksure men who spend endless hours, alternately boring and dangerous, in a patrol car together.

In this film everyone seems to have a handheld camera. Gyllenhaal's Taylor rarely turns his off, giving the film a cinema verite feel that adds to the honesty and humanity of the characters. What the movie may lack in traditional narrative it makes up for in realism highlighted by humor and exceptional performances. Anna Kendrick and Natalie Martinez are pitchperfect as the young women who love their men of duty. Devoid of preachiness and sentimentality, this film is a worthy tribute to the men in blue.

KRISTA SMITH