Dog Watch

A "sleeper". I had never even heard of this movie until I was channel jumping one night. I've been a police officer myself for 25 years and thought this was a true to life movie. Non-police critics are rating the movie purely from a critic's point of view and not from a police officer's point of view. This is real.

Although the story is good and portrayals what I expected of Sam Elliot my DVD copy contained almost unbearable synchronization problems. The dialogue was almost 3 seconds behind the lip movement throughout the whole film.

I would therefore be very careful in purchasing any DVD of the film without checking for the problem.

I would also follow the recommended censors classifications particularly in relation to language and drug usage.

This film could become a silent classic cop movie and with the above cautionary notes I can recommend it to prospective viewers

From the start you will like Sam Elliott's character (Falon) : a trustworthy cop that is notably loyal to his partner. But too loyal, and too revengeful when seeing his partner dead in an alley, cause he then kills who he thought to be the assailant before giving him a chance to explain. Falon is an alcoholic, and that tends to sway him from being in self control, though he manages to direct his attention towards finding who's really behind his partners death. He carries along a rookie as his new partner (which seems to be seen too often in films) but Esai Morales does well in accompanying Sam Elliot, though puzzling pieces begin to fit to where Morales begins a self-approved investigation towards Falon; he mainly wants to find the answers since Fallon isn't letting him in on the whole story, and does not like what he finds. There is not a last minute showing at who the bad detectives are, which is okay; and they are not able to sway Falon into joining them, leading to a dramatic ending. Fine acting all the way around, with a touch of humor from Paul Sorvino who is the captain of detectives. It's a good movie that will make you want to see it several times; so it qualifies as a -must see-, and a good addition to a movie collection! (Filmed in San Francisco)

Sam Elliott is tough, uncompromising, sexist, stubborn, and an honest cop. "Dogwatch" is an excellent police corruption film. It takes it's time to establish characters, and the story is complex enough to maintain interest. Not for the squeamish, the violence is pretty brutal. What holds things together is the outstanding performance by Elliott. His sexist conversation with his partner's wife at the dinner table will most likely make any females in the audience ultra uncomfortable. It alone is worth the price of admission. I am definitely pounding the table for this little known movie. If you would like to entertain your male friends with something truly entertaining, get "Dogwatch" and watch it. ......... MERK

I'm rating this pretty high just because of Sam Elliott. I could've done without the female nudity but I'd sit through almost any nonsense in order to see Sam strut his stuff. He gets to spout wonderfully cynical witticisms, many of which I agree with, and it's a joy to see him in a role in which he actually gets to emote instead of just standing around scowling and looking virile as can be. My boyfriend opined that this movie is in a couple of ways similar to a film in which Ed Harris had a Hispanic partner (in the police sense of the term!) who was a little overeager to prove himself. You can draw your own conclusions on that score but if you like Sam, you'll like this. You could say I'm biased, but who isn't in some way? I'd buy this on DVD in a heartbeat!