End Of Watch Is Becoming A TV Series At Fox
StudioCanal
“End of Watch” was one of Ayer’s better-reviewed films, and it earned Peña and cinematographer Roman Vasyanov Independent Spirit Award nominations. This isn’t the first time that a movie Ayer wrote has made the leap to the small screen. He also penned the script for “Training Day,” directed by Antoine Fuqua, and that film became a short-lived CBS series starring the late Bill Paxton.
Joining Ayer as executive producers for this “End of Watch” series through Cedar Park Studios are Chris Long and Darryll C. Scott. Producer John Lesher is returning from the film and James Masciello, Andrea Iervolino, and Monika Bacardi will also executive produce, while Bill Rotko will serve as consulting producer.
“End of Watch” is a film that is watchable and well-acted, yet the perspective of it feels dated, like a piece of police propaganda (or copaganda, for those of you following along with the recent “RoboCop” kerfuffle on Twitter) that could have only been made before Floyd’s death brought this issue once again to the national stage. Keep in mind, this news is coming in the middle of Black History Month.
Ayer’s movie introduces the cop-student-film conceit, but then it goes crazy with the camera angles in a way that defies the internal logic of a found footage or documentary-style feature. One moment that sticks out in mind is when the camera looks in over Gyllenhaal’s shoulder during a love scene with his girlfriend, played by Anna Kendrick. The viewer is left thinking: who’s the third person in that room, filming them?
Hearing cops talk of the thin blue line and seeing a white, skinhead-looking patrolman manhandle minorities, charge into a burning building (twice, no less), and then wax philosophical about whether he’s a hero or not, doesn’t feel very in touch with the zeitgeist. If it’s going to be a viable concept, the “End of Watch” series will need to update the film’s perspective and improve upon certain elements that feel like a relic of a different time.
