Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Ah! When good actors take on bland material! If you are thinking of this movie as a tight police thriller you may be disappointed. While the situations are very true to life, the plot proceeds at a very predictable clip and you can pretty well see what lays ahead way before the actors take you there. Many of the criminals and secondary figures are really just stereotypes in motion. Much of the dialog is just plain silly.But! If you love to see good actors rise above this kind of material and make something of it, then you will LOVE this movie! Sam Elliott is nothing short of brilliant in taking the one-note character of Detective Falon come alive with depth and pathos. Those of you who have never seen Elliott emote that much beyond his usual scowling stoic stances will be delighted at the range of emotion he depicts in this film. And also, in his early fifties in this film, he looks fantastic! His bare chest scene gives hope to middle aged men everywhere! Esai Morales does a wonderful job elevating his role as Det. Falon's eager beaver new police partner. He could have easily played it as a Robin to Elliott's Batman, but instead he breathed a genuineness and passion into this role. He makes it work despite some of the lame lines he is given to say.Paul Sorvino is fun to watch! He plays the eccentric police captain. He seems to know he is slumming in this movie and is having a ball doing it. He makes it fun for us too.This movie is very by-the-numbers in plot but makes up for it with great performances! Sam Elliott fans should definitely get this one as it is suck a kick to see him spread his wings and do so much more than he usually is allowed to do!

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

Anchored by Sam Elliott's intense, hard-edged performance, (one of his best since "Lifeguard"), "Dog Watch" tells a good story in terse, efficient fashion, even though it never quiet overcomes its straight-to-video origins. While the focus of its story should be internal -- Elliott's reaction to the realization that he committed a fatal mistake -- the movie drifts into external concerns as Elliott and his partner, Esai Morales, investigate corrupt cops and drug deals. The internal and external stories are firmly linked but the movie's emphasis is on the wrong half of the combination.The best scene comes when Elliott has a tense, strained dinner with Morales and his wife, the excellent Jessica Steen, who matches Elliott line for line, expression for expression. The worst scene comes when Elliott later visits Steen's residence and offers her an apology of sorts. Even Elliott can't make us buy this out-of-character moment.Sam Elliott seems to have a tendency toward physical exhibitionism. (Remember his gratuitous nude scene in "The Legacy?") Here we see him bare-chested in bed when he answers a late-night phone call. There's no need for "beefcake" in this scene but it gives Elliott yet another chance to show off his lean, hairy torso -- never touched by a razor -- and even at age 51 this torso still looks mighty good.Elliott also deserves notice for the scene in which he delivers a kick to a man's crotch. (You can almost hear the testicles squish.) His aim is perfect and his kicking style would do a Rockette proud.

I just finished watching Dog Watch. I thought parts of the movie were hokey with more than a few implausibilities. The acting wasn't too bad and the plot wasn't bad. BUT, as the saying goes, the devil was in the details.Some examples:1) The bleed-through on Charlie Falon's (Sam Elliott) bandage was shown to be coming from the back of his hand while it was his knuckles that were bleeding.2) Would a detective dispose of his murder victim from a very well-lighted area? This seemed very silly to me.I am not unusually picky about a movie but, in my humble opinion, this one is definitely NOT recommended by me.