Jake Gyllenhaal & Michael Peña’s 2012 Action Thriller Is Crushing It On Max

Director David Ayer has had a fascinatingly uneven career. The man responsible for writing the standout “Training Day” is also responsible for directing the truly bizarre and critically-panned “Bright.” That’s not to mention 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” which was infamously sabotaged by studio meddling (though Ayer has taken the blame for Joker’s stupid “damaged” tattoo). Ever since “Suicide Squad,” the director has struggled to regain the prestige he’d built with his previous efforts. Though he saw box office success with “The Beekeeper” in 2024, Ayer’s best movies are those that take his experience of growing up in disadvantaged neighborhoods of Los Angeles and inject them into taut action thrillers such as “Training Day” or Ayer’s best directorial effort: “End of Watch.”

The 2012 action thriller, which Ayer also wrote, is basically one-long gripping ride-along with two LAPD officers played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña. The pair are consistently and impressively believable as officers Brian Taylor and Mike Zavala, respectively — as are the South Central Los Angeles environs they patrol, a result of Ayer shooting his movie on location in the LAPD’s Newton Division. Unlike “Training Day” or Ayer’s other LAPD-focused film, “Street Kings,” “End of Watch” follows two honest cops whose chemistry is the main draw of the movie. Of course, there’s plenty of action to buttress the back-and-forth between Gyllenhaal and Peña, with the pair ultimately becoming the targets of a dangerous drug cartel and having to fight their way out of the neighborhoods they’re charged with protecting.

If all of that sounds intriguing, it certainly impressed critics upon its debut, and now “End of Watch” is impressing the Max crowds as the film is enjoying continued success on the streamer’s charts.

At the same time Hugh Grant’s brilliant horror movie “Heretic” has taken over the Max charts“End of Watch” is holding its own, proving to be a remarkably consistent hit on the streamer. According to FlixPatrola site that tracks and aggregates streaming viewership data, “End of Watch” has been in the Max charts for over a week now, and has remained consistently popular, hovering around the middle and slowly climbing its way to the top.

The film has a way to go before it can claim the top spot but as of March 6, 2025, it was charting at number six, before dropping to the eighth position in the days following. However, since then, it has mounted somewhat of a comeback, climbing to number five, where it sits as of March 14. It will be interesting to see how the film fares going forward, as “Heretic” has had a consistent hold on the top spot for almost a week now and Anthony Mackie’s post apocalyptic action thriller is still charting at number four more than two weeks after it first hit the Max rankings. If “End of Watch” can overtake either film it will be a small but significant win for the movie, which really is as good as its 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes suggests.

In 2022, it was announced “End of Watch” was being developed as a TV series for Foxthough there’s been very little news on that front since the announcement. For now, then we’ll have to make do with this streaming win for the original film, which is more than worth a watch if you’re yet to see it.