Backup Film Inspiration - End of Watch

End of Watch (2012) is a film directed by David Ayer, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena. The film is shot in a documentary-style as Gyllenhaal's characters has enrolled himself in a film making class and films him and his partners every movement while they are in the force.  

The main reason this film is a source of inspiration to me is because of the acting and dialogue between the two main characters. The interactions between the characters are extremely realistic and feels like you are watching two cops who have genuinely been best friends for years. The director estimated that about 90% of the dialogue was improvised between Gyllenhaal and Pena, which gives a much more natural feel to the dialogue and interactions to the point where the film actually feels like it's a documentary with conversations of two actual people, which further gives credit to the performance of the two main actors.

Although the film does contrast the realism with what happens to the main characters throughout the film as they continually 'happen' to stumble upon huge crimes that they solve themselves, like entering a burning building to save children before firefighters arrive or stumbling upon multiple scenes that involve a giant ring of cartel crimes that range from torture to murder where the two main characters find a house that has a large group of people locked up inside for example. 

However, these events may draw the viewer away from  the realism, but they manage to keep the film fresh and interesting. Furthermore, the two characters are what ultimately keep the viewers watching as they have very interesting personalities, but they are also not what most people would consider 'straight cops' despite the good that the two do (like saving children from a burning building). For example, their is a scene that has Pena solve a domestic dispute claim by challenging the abuser to a fist fight while Gyllenhaal watches and cheers his best friend on instead of calling the crime in. This adds a fresh view that isn't often seen in movies, where the main characters are essentially the protagonists that still do relatively bad things.

The main reason this film is inspiration to me is because of the extremely natural dialogue and the interactions between the two main characters. I don't wish to achieve the serious nature of the film itself, but rather the style of dialogue between the two main characters as it is definitely the best part of the movie. I believe if I can achieve this standard of interaction between my characters, the film will be interesting to watch.