End of Watch (2012)

This is a really solid movie. It follows two young cops, Brian and Mike, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena, as they move through their days in South Central LA. This is an ugly world, but these two seem to be a couple of genuine good guys. They see every day how horrible people are, but they are still happy with their family, their job, their friendship.

They make life a bit harder for a Mexican cartel; they end up on a hit list. Through it all, we get a real sense of how profound the friendship between a couple of cops can be - or has to be?

The horrible violence they see every day is shown primarily through hand held video. This method works for the film, the acting is great, the distractions are few, the criminals are truly frightening. If you like a cop film, this is far better than most.