• Tagline: Watch Your Six
• Director: David Ayer
• Writer: David Ayer
• Release Date: 21 September 2012 (USA)
• MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, some disturbing images, pervasive language including sexual references, and some drug use
• Parents Guide: View content advisory for parents
• Genre: Crime | Drama | Mystery
• Runtime: 109 min
• Box Office #’s: Here
A drama centered on the long-term friendship and partnership between two cops.
From the Gallery
Cast Highlights
• Michael Peña … Officer Zavala
• Anna Kendrick … Janet
• Frank Grillo … Sarge
• America Ferrera … Officer Orozco
Trivia
- In the house where all the people were being held captive, statues of Santa Muerte can be seen. Santa Muerte is a sacred figure commonly venerated primarily in Mexico and the United States by people involved in various drug cartels and other criminal enterprises.
- In the house where the officers find all the human trafficking people is an alter with small statues and likenesses of Jesus Malverde. Jesús Malverde, sometimes known as the “generous bandit”, “angel of the poor”, or the “narco-saint”, is a folklore hero in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. He is celebrated as a folk saint by some in Mexico and the United States, particularly among those involved in drug trafficking, He is not recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
- The lead characters in the movie were loosely based on real life LAPD Officers Charles Wunder and Jamie McBride. They were partners in Newton Division in the mid to late 90’s.
- As part of their training, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña spent five months doing 12-hour ride-alongs with on-duty LAPD officers. During Gyllenhaal’s first ride-along, he witnessed a murder.
Quotes
Brian Taylor: I am the police, and I’m here to arrest you. You’ve broken the law. I did not write the law. I may disagree with the law but I will enforce it. No matter how you plead, condole, beg or attempt to stir my sympathy. Nothing you do will stop me from placing you in a steel cage with gray bars. If you run away I will chase you. If you fight me I will fight back. If you shoot at me I will shoot back. By law I am unable to walk away. I am a consequence. I am the unpaid bill. I am fate with a badge and a gun. Behind my badge is a heart like yours. I bleed, I think, I love, and yes I can be killed. And although I am but one man, I have thousands of brothers and sisters who are the same as me. They will lay down their lives for me and I them. We stand watch together. The thin-blue-line, protecting the prey from the predators, the good from the bad. We are the police.
Mike Zavala: My Grandmother said, “If you can live without her, then man-up and cut her off. Don’t string her along.”
Brian Taylor: [taping themselves] Dude! Don’t swear, man, I have to edit that out when you swear.
Mike Zavala: Oh, fuck! Oh, shit, dude! Fuck, man!
Captain Reese: An on-the-job shooting is still considered a homicide. It’s never an easy ride. If you do the right thing, I’ll always have your back. Do the wrong thing and cross me – I will personally throw you under the bus.
Brian Taylor: I want somebody to talk to, not just sleep with. Do you fucking understand what I’m saying?
Mike Zavala: White people get hung up on this fucking soulmate bullshit. Just hook up with a chick that can cook and wants kids!
Sarge: Van Hauser wants to file a complaint on you, Taylor.
Brian Taylor: Oh, the USS Van Houser? The LAPD’s stealthiest submarine, only surfaces at the end of watch?
Mike Zavala: [after the Captain walks out] Why do you get nervous?
Brian Taylor: Women want him, men want to be him, man. He’s just…
Mike Zavala: Yeah, I know. But you want him.
Brian Taylor: Dude, I’m not gay, but I’d go down on him if he asked.
Mike Zavala: Sometimes I don’t know when you’re kidding. And I have to know when you’re kidding.
Brian Taylor: I’m not kidding.
Mike Zavala: I gotta know when you’re kidding.
Brian Taylor: I’m not kidding.
[laughs]
Brian Taylor: You feel like a hero?
Mike Zavala: What?
Brian Taylor: You feel like a hero?
Mike Zavala: No.
Brian Taylor: Yeah, me neither.
[pauses]
Brian Taylor: What’s a hero feel like?
Mike Zavala: I don’t know, man. Did I tell you that me and uh… Gabby got into a huge fight over the fire?
Brian Taylor: Nope, you didn’t tell me that.
Mike Zavala: She was… she’s like; ‘you could have died for someone else’s kid when ours hasn’t even been born yet.’ She’s like; ‘you’re not a fireman.’
Brian Taylor: Janet said the same thing.
Mike Zavala: Yeah?
Brian Taylor: Um… I don’t think I can go into another burning building. I only went in because you did. Just… put that shit out there.
Brian Taylor: So Mr. Big Evil, why do they call you Big Evil?
Big Evil: Because, my evil is big.
Sarge: [at Taylor’s wedding reception, Sarge, looking a bit drunk, is talking to a group of rookie cops] My boy Garcia? He’s a fucking beast, man. Right? I’ve seen this motherfucker knock an asshole out with one punch. Yoked assholes, man. Yoked assholes from the joint when they had weight piles. You know what I’m talking about? You don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re fucking twelve years old. Cops like him… Like soldiers. He took a bullet for me. My bullet, man. He took my bullet. He took my bullet. That’s what he was. That’s what he was to me. It should have been me, cause he was a good guy. I was shit. Fuck it, man.
