House at the End of the Street is not only a difficult title to say out loud multiple times, it's also the latest star-vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence, the breakout leading lady from 2010's Winter's Bone who has gone on to just a few small parts, like Mystique in X-Men: First Class and Katniss in The Hunger Games, nothing major. Who knows, maybe she'll catch her break some day. The plot is about Lawrence and her mother, played by Elisabeth Shue, moving to a new place after what smells like a rough divorce. The place that they got for cheap happens to be inexpensive because the next door neighbors had some grisly murders; the whole family is dead save for a young man played by Max Thieriot, who lives there on his own in his family's murder house (nothing sketchy there). Of course Lawrence falls for this guy and gets in over her head finding out the "secrets" of the murders.
This film, as generic and un-noteworthy as it is, I found to be entertaining in a mindless drive-in kind of way. Certainly the script is nothing remarkable, but Jennifer Lawrence elevates the material enough that it was, dare I say, just a fun time at the movies. Not everything has to be the Citizen Kane of their respective genre. I will simply file this under my 'guilty pleasures' tab, along with Green Lantern and Spider-Man 3.
Rating: B-
David Ayer is no stranger to police dramas, with nearly his entire filmography composed of films centering on the LAPD, most notably Training Day. In End of Watch Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pina star as two cops out doing their thing on the violent streets of South Central. Jake's character always carries around a video camera and often tapes their misadventures (so it feels very much like an episode of Cops). I ended up really digging this movie not necessarily because of the story - it boils down to them fighting against cookie-cutter Mexican cartel members - but the relationship between the two guys was so realistic and well handled. Their respective performances were so good that when shit goes down, I was on the edge of my seat. There are many 'oh shit' moments in this movie and my audience actually gasped multiple times. If I have one complaint it's that the whole 'caught on camera' aspect was totally unnecessary and distracting, especially when maybe five or six times throughout the movie, characters will say: "Hey, get that damn camera outta my face!" Other than that, I'd say End of Watch is worth a watch or two.
Rating: B+
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