End of Watch (1:49) 2012

End of Watch is being praised as one of the best cop movies of late and I wholeheartedly agree. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena are partners in South Central Los Angeles. Officer Zavala (Pena) is married and his wife is expecting and Taylor  (Gyllenhaal) is in a relationship with Janet. Their assignment involves patrolling 13 a crime ridden area where drug deals are the norm of the day. As dangerous as their assignments are, the duo's lives are in danger. Taylor and Zavala stumble upon a house full of heroin and the head of a Mexican drug cartel wants them dead. While off duty, we get a peak of their lives when off duty, the parties, the wedding, and the birth of Z's son. Taylor is taking a film study course so he videotapes some of the action on the street, in the patrol car, giving the film a documentary feel. Predictably, the movie is full of vulgar language and bloody violence giving the viewer the reality of the dangerous life of a city city police officer. I highly recommend this movie with one exception  - the mothers of city police officers as pointed out to me by one of my retired teacher friends, a mother of a NYC police officer.