Michelle Williams (actress) to the comedic genre with "The Baxter", in which she played a geeky secretary. The film received negative reviews; Wesley Morris of "The Boston Globe" wrote, "Only when Williams is around does the movie seem human, true, and funny. Even in her slapstick, there's pain." As with her other films during this period, it only received a limited release and was not widely seen. Williams gained wider recognition later in 2005 when she appeared in Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain", about the romance between two men, Ennis and Jack (played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, respectively). Impressed with her performance
Jake Gyllenhaal positive reviews, with Roger Ebert saying that ""End of Watch" is one of the best police movies in recent years, a virtuoso fusion of performances and often startling action", and Salon.com's Andrew O'Hehir stating that the film was "at least the best cop movie since James Gray's "We Own the Night", and very likely since Antoine Fuqua's memorable "Training Day" (which, not coincidentally, was written by Ayer)". To train for the role, Gyllenhaal took tactical training and participated in actual police drives with co-star Michael Peña to help establish the language of the characters. Gyllenhaal appeared in two films directed