Gyllenhaal starred alongside Michael Peña in David Ayer's action thriller "End of Watch," about two Los Angeles street cops. The film, for which Gyllenhaal was also an executive producer, was released in September 2012 and received positive reviews, with Roger Ebert deeming it "one of the best police movies in recent years, a virtuoso fusion of performances and often startling action" and "Salon"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 prepare for the role, Gyllenhaal took tactical training and participated in actual police drives with co-star Peña to help establish the language of the characters.