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'End of Watch', is the only cop film ever to capture the spirit of interaction between 2 ghetto cops and the sort of comments they make to each other while patrolling. In my case, being a minority (3rd Generation Japanese-American), similar to Mike Pena's Hispanic character in this film, paired with a testosterone-fueled white male partner, who was quick with the ethnic slurs, reminded me of working with Bruce Kameg at the 1st Precinct in the late 1970s. I read many of the reviews of the film here, on Amazon.com and it's interesting that people either loved and endorsed the film or HATED it, with little reaction in-between those 2 extremes. There are many cop-haters in the world and some who saw this film said they much preferred 'Training Day'. The reason is obvious to me-the horribly 'bad' cop portrayed by Denzel Washington enabled those cop haters to reinforce their already negative opinions of how corrupt and rotten cops are. Other negative reviews came from law enforcement types who are desk jockeys, paper shufflers or have worked only in suburban areas, where the big call of the night is "a drunk at the 7-Eleven'. They are in no position to judge the authenticity of this film, because their experiences are so different, they might as well have taken place on another planet. Ghetto policing is a whole different experience and it's a young man's game, often performed by coppers with a high school education, at best. Some critics didn't like the "immaturity" of the characters. Like it or not, that depiction is real, not about ALL ghetto cops, but many. A flippant attitude can be essential for mental survival in an insane environment. Some said the camera was too jerky and watching the action made them sick. Welcome to the real world of ghetto cops-in particular the fight near the beginning and the jolting car crash, which began the final action scene. The jerky camera action really 'put you there', making me feel like I was back on the street. It might not be 'pleasant' to experience, but it is realistic. On my first night on patrol, (I was still in the academy) I was sent to the Vernor Pct for 'In Service training'. I rode in the back of a patrol car, with an experienced 2 man crew. After sliding back and forth on the back seat, racing from one priority call to another, and drawing my gun 7 or 8 times in a single night, I felt like I'd been on a roller coaster for 8 hours. I said to myself " I don't think I can do this s*** for 25 years." But some of us did adapt to that crazy world and I remained on uniformed street patrol for 25 years, on Detroit PD. Other negative reviewers (and there were MANY with this objection), stated they couldn't stand the obscene language that was so pervasive in 'End of Watch'. Go back and watch the film again. Although the cops are prone to swearing (which is accurate), 90% of the F-bombs in the film are spoken by ghetto gang members-welcome to reality. Again, this was totally realistic and the 'emotional violence' which Joseph Wambaugh recognized as a major component of the police experience is captured perfectly by the black actor who fights the Hispanic cop at the beginning of the film. I read that he is in fact a real gang member and street guy and the torrent of obscenity and disrespect that flowed from his mouth in that scene was 100% similar to the verbal abuse I listened to, for 25 years. This also transported me back in time, to hear that obscene dialogue.
Most of the severe critics of this film are basing their opinions on what? Their years of working at Dunkin Donuts or perhaps the many police movies they've watched? The director of this film wanted to get it right and the 2 main actors spent months riding along with LAPD and LA Sherriff's crews, to get a feel for what they actually say and do, while working. Learning of their preparation for these roles was what nudged me to go see the film. It is very accurate on many levels-I know, because I've lived much of that experience. The only thing that was way over the top, was the amount of shooting at the end. Even in ghetto policing, that is not nearly as prevalent as shown in this movie and when it does happen, it's usually over a lot quicker than the prolonged gun battle at the end of this movie. But that is typically Hollywood and is inserted to add box office appeal. The basic premise of the film required one or both of the officers to die at the end, but this could have been accomplished in a much briefer space of time. I believe one reason response time was prolonged in the film, is that cops who call for assistance always 'perceive' that it takes forever for help to arrive, even if it is a matter of seconds or a few minutes.
Other aspects of the film which have been panned:
By my calculations, I made over 15,000 traffic stops in my career and I never had the occupants of a stopped car come-out shooting, as was shown in the opening scene of this film. However, this DOES occasionally happen and footage captured recently on real life police dashboard cams, shows that the scenario looks VERY similar to what was depicted in 'End of Watch'. In another traffic stop scene in the film, a citizen's gun arm is grabbed by a cop, just as he tries to shoot the cop. MANY ghetto cops have grabbed a firearm out of the hands of a hostile citizen. I once grabbed the barrel of a .12 gauge shotgun and deflected it away from me, after walking-up behind a armed citizen who had just shot at his neighbor (it later turned-out this citizen had two prior murder convictions on his rap sheet).
As to the scene where Pena takes off his gun to fight an abusive citizen, that also DOES happen occasionally. I know of a FEMALE Detroit cop, who did that and whipped a strapping 22 year old young man, with a big mouth. They teach in the academy never to do this, but Pena's character was a ring boxer, which was revealed in one of the unfortunately deleted scenes. So he was capable of doing things the average cop would not attempt to do.
Other negative reviewers of the film resented the fact that cops were portrayed as occasional heroes in the film. I never crawled along the floor of a building engulfed in a raging fire, to save occupants of an apartment building before the Fire Department arrived, but this happened to my partners one night, when I was off. Going-in to a situation like that, with no adequate fire retardant clothing or breathing apparatus is nothing short of heroic and would be like expecting a fireman without a gun to take-on an armed felon. Yes, my partners did that, in a Cass Corridor apartment building and they saved some lives. One of them (Michael T. Walsh), happens to be the son of a Detroit fireman.
In short, many of the experts who have condemned this film don't have any idea what they're talking about.
My final comment on this, is to all the cop haters and also the chairborne desk jockey types, who never get out on the street and care only about getting promoted. Your reasons for hating this film are obvious. As to the bluenoses who can't stand hearing dirty words in a film, their objections should in no way reflect on whether this film is an accurate depiction of reality, in big city policing. On the contrary, the horrible language is just one more realistic aspect of this film. Patrolling the Cass Corridor of Detroit, in the 70s-80s was very similar. 'End of Watch' has nailed the ghetto policing experience more accurately than any Hollywood film, to date.
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Opiniones con imágenes
Sup homie
Awesome story and acting. Tense staredowns which bangers pride themselves with
Opiniones destacadas de los Estados Unidos
Ha surgido un problema al filtrar las opiniones justo en este momento. Vuelva a intentarlo en otro momento.
Calificado en Estados Unidos el 25 de mayo de 2013
Calificado en Estados Unidos el 28 de julio de 2021
Calificado en Estados Unidos el 15 de febrero de 2024
Opiniones más destacadas de otros países
Fred05
EOW à voir et revoir sans modération
Calificado en Francia el 25 de agosto de 2022Jeremy Birley
Unbelievable movie, a must see
Calificado en Canadá el 26 de febrero de 2019
