Opening 20 Dec 2012
Directed by:
David Ayer
Writing credits:
David Ayer
Principal actors:
Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Natalie Martinez, Anna Kendrick, David Harbour
This movie takes viewers through a variety of emotions. You will laugh, you will feel a bit of romance, your palms will be sweaty, you will be angry and you will cry. By far the best police movie I have seen in years. Being in law enforcement and coming from a law enforcement family I was impressed (and laughed a bit) at the various stereotypes portrayed in the film. From the disgruntled old-timer Van Hauser (David Harbour) to the lesbian female officer Orozco (America Ferrera) to the survival wrist band worn by Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal), the film has authentic character and great attention to detail.
Tayor (Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Peña) are academy mates who are on patrol together in South Central Los Angeles. They trust each other with their lives and consider each other as brothers. They spend their days in the patrol unit talking about life, love, sex, happiness and the job. Zavala fights a gang member “gangster style,” earning the pair respect among a group of gang members. The pair faces various calls for duty and repeatedly risks their lives together. They conduct a traffic stop that gets the attention of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico. An ambitious Taylor reacting on his instincts from the traffic stop finds several houses linking the cartel to crimes committed in South Central Los Angeles. Taylor and Zavala ignore several warnings regarding their safety on the streets. Their disregard causes lives to be lost. (Marisa Todd)
