Review: End of Watch, Jake Gyllenhaal on patrol

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End of Watch stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as LAPD officers patrolling the gangland war zone of South Central Los Angeles. It is an unconventional take on the action thriller format, featuring plenty of ostensible “found-footage” that

David Ayer's quasi-documentary drama has a jittery energy, if not much flow as a narrative. It follows the day-to-day patrols of two LA cops, Brian (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike (Michael Peña), as they chase down villains, get into fights, chew the fat in their cruiser, rescue kids from a house on fire, and deal with "the major food groups – money and guns".

They see horrible things, and Brian, wielding a videocam, records most of them. It's your averagely violent, averagely squalid tour through the hell of South Central Los Angeles, with one big difference.

Ayer's previous form in this territory – he wrote Training Day for Denzel Washington, and directed Street Kings – usually involves a background of conspiracy and at least one bad-apple cop. This time the cops are good guys who, amid all the pranks and joshing, mind one another's backs.

A thin plot trickles through the daily routine – a Mexican drugs cartel is after the pair – which brings it down almost to a Grand Theft Auto level of thuggery. It's nothing we haven't seen or heard before, but Ayer's muscular film-making keeps us absorbed.