End of Watch (2012)

4/5

End of Watch is a gritty police drama that combines elements of realism and truth with humor and warmth. It follows two young officers (Gyllenhaal, Peña) patrolling the streets of LA together. Instead of focusing on the minutiae of cop life, it centers on the relationship between the two leads and simply explores where their job takes them. The writing is filled with harrowing experiences that make your heart stop beating for a few seconds. The movie is exciting, thrilling, terrifying, and heartfelt.

The editing is just about perfect. It collapses time to focus on the most startling arrests and the biggest personal life events: weddings, birthdays, etc. It uses the found footage concept to perfection, unlike Chronicle. Chronicle took the concept too far, to the point where it impeded the storytelling and lessened your enjoyment of the film. Here, it provides a framework, a context, a setting. It gives shape and meaning to the story instead of forcing the story in one direction or becoming the story itself.

But, honestly, the actors are the reason to see this movie. Gyllenhaal and Peña give truly outstanding and memorable performances. They each bring their own individual charisma to the screen, and together they have a natural chemistry that takes your breath away. The movie is far from perfect, with numerous unbelievable scenarios and occasional unclear motivations. Be that as it may, the movie was a joy to watch and I highly recommend it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1855199/

Magic Mike (2012)

2/5

Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike is loosely based on Channing Tatum's early stripping days in Tampa. It is essentially a dance movie like Step Up with more bare chests and pelvic thrusts. The plotting is uninspired: Tatum introduces 19-year-old Adam (Pettyfer) to male stripping, When Adam discovers he has a knack for it, he becomes entrenched in drugs and high-risk sexual behavior. Tatum is trying to get out of the stripping "business," although I personally thought his dancing was better than his custom furniture, which teetered between eyesore and offensive. It's nothing you haven't seen before, and it's not done particularly well by Soderbergh this time. The dancing was "Xquisite," but the acting was not. McConaughey did give an uncharacteristically competent and believable performance, and Tatum's acting continues to gradually improve, but I would still place both of them in the category of "would not cast in my own movie unless I wanted star power." On the whole, it's a decent enough movie but fails to introduce us to anything new or different.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1915581/