The Watcher

A prevailing thought while viewing The Watcher was that Keanu Reeves is an odd choice to play a lone wolf serial killer, but he actually suits it pretty well. The film itself is muddy and middle of the road, pitting haggard big city cop James Spader against Reeves's beast who takes extreme pleasure in taunting him at every turn. This gets so bad that poor Spader has a breakdown, loses all hope and moves to a different city half across the country. Reeves just can't seem to quit the game though, and follows him right over there for more murderous shenanigans. It's your classic 90's cop vs. killer tale, and for the most part it's not bad. The bleak, nocturnal nightscapes help Reeves creep around and nab his victims as well as provide an oppressive urban atmosphere. It's nice to see casting like this as far as the villain is concerned; so often these killers are played by eccentric, freaky looking character actors or go-to antagonist players, but by casting a golden boy leading man like Keanu they've upturned the trend and made the character more striking. Also, a chiselled babe like him is far more likely to believably lure off girls than some wild eyed, Gary Busey type you'd usually find here. Points for that too. The additional players add class, including Chris Ellis, Ernie Hudson and Marisa Tomei. This one won't go down in history simply because it's in dime-a-dozen territory. There's just too too many cop/killer films from back then, and if one of them doesn't have a key quality to make it stick and endure, it'll fade into obscurity, like Reeves receding back into the inky night after a fresh kill. It's not bad in itself though, if mostly just for him and the urban ambiance he stalks through.

After being identified and harassed by the elusive serial killer David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves), the distressed FBI agent Joel Campbell (James Spader) moves to Chicago from Los Angeles in order to secure his own safety and peace of mind. However, tormented by the anguish of past failures, Campbell is unable to ameliorate his physical and mental health and his bruised existence is again challenged by Griffin's reappearance in Chicago. Amused and motivated by Campbell's compassion toward all female victims, Griffin (who spies on lonely women and then kills them) heightens the stakes of his hide-and-seek game with Campbell by sending him a photograph of the intended victim of the day, thus testing his ability to save her. However, when Griffin's final defiance involves Campbell's psychologist (Marisa Tomei), the two test each other's limits.

The Watcher follows its two main characters intimately, often detailing the mechanics of Griffin's moves through Campbell's point of view as an observer who must solve a mystery. By depicting Campbell's dependence on painkillers, for example, The Watcher successfully transmits the deteriorated mental and physical state of this protagonistic character. The Watcher is most intriguing when it attempts to portray a society that --through its indifference-- creates its own victims and delivers, so to speak, the loneliest and most vulnerable to their executioner. The Watcher uses this notion of people's unwillingness to help and builds its suspense by simultaneously emphasizing the protagonist's struggles to beat the murderer's deadline. Furthermore, The Watcher successfully defines both protagonist and antagonist as "the watcher" of the other, thus suggesting a somewhat sado-masochistic bond between the two. In spite of this success, The Watcher relies on an excess of repeated flashbacks in the form of highly stylized, often blurry, shots that depict Campbell's previous interaction with Griffin. This choice weakens The Watcher's attempts to establish realism around both characters' past connection, and loosens the otherwise tight pace of the plot.

The watcher hits on both a realistic level, and an entertaining level never before reached with a movie starring Keanu Reeves.

I really wanted to like this movie. I really did. Some people don't like Keanu as an actor, but I love a lot of the movies he's done (Matrix, Street Kings, Speed, Bill & Ted, Constantine & Devil's Advocate off the top of my head). That being said, this movie could've been so much better if they had casted ANYONE ELSE as the villain. Keanu's acting style does not fit the role, and it ends up becoming a worm hole that sucks the movie down. Also, the end features a particularly horrible use of CGI (trust me, you'll know it when you see it) that would've been acceptable if it came out in the 80s or early 90s. But considering this came a few years after The Matrix, there's no excuse. I give it a 5/10 for the writing and good casting for 99% of the roles. In short, don't spend money on this one.

"The Watcher" will not win any awards for originality and unpredictable storylines. This is not to say that "The Watcher" is a bad movie because it isn't.

I'm not huge fans of James Spader or Keanu Reeves; however, that didn't stop me from watching this film. I'm glad I went because not only did I enjoy this film, I have come to enjoy Spader and Reeves as actors.

Keanu Reeves takes a departure from his usual good guy persona to portray a serial killer. He does such a great job, I asked myself why was this the first movie he portrayed a villain because he was so good at it.

"The Watcher" offers nothing new in way of plot but it does have performances turned in by Reeves and Spader that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

While predictable, I was on the edge of my seat hoping certain scenes would not evolve the way they did; even though, I knew what was going to happen, it was enjoyable to watch how it would unfold. I found the methods that the serial killer used to be incredible because of the unique way he went about carrying them out.

Overall, "The Watcher was a movie that can be summed up in one word: EXCITING. I give this film a 7 out of 10.

Joel Campbell (James Spader) and David Griffin (Keanu Reeves) are like binary stars that revolve around a common center of gravity. Each man needs the other for a sense of identity. They function as a single entity, even though their motives are in moral opposition. Actually, it's a rather tired film concept.

In Chicago, Campbell introduces the story premise about serial killer Griffin who preys on young women, and uses his killings as a game to be played out with Campbell, who has no choice but to participate. The film's structure relies on tons of flashbacks to Campbell's previous involvement with the killer in California.

The main problem here is that the film's plot depends on multiple film clichés. You've got your standard police chase scenes with flashing lights and screeching tires. You've got your standard melodramatic TV news, repeated over and over and over. You've got a killer who can miraculously overcome every obstacle thrown at him. The film's final twenty minutes are nothing but a string of cinematic clichés.

You get the feeling that the filmmakers used a tried-and-true money making film concept as a template, hurriedly wrote a script, then attached well-known box-office actors to rev up the financial bottom line, for quick megabucks. If that was their plan, I don't think it worked. For many viewers, including myself, the film comes across as stale, insipid, and uninspired.

The acting is not convincing. Both James Spader and Keanu Reeves sleepwalk through their roles, emotionally uninvolved. The casting of lovely Marisa Tomei as a psychiatrist is not credible, in a role meant for an older intellectual. But, of course, as a beautiful young woman, Tomei fits in nicely as a handy target for the killer. And the film's contemporary pumped up rock music I found irritating and distracting. The color cinematography is adequate, if conventional.

"The Watcher" is just one more cop and killer movie in a saturated genre. The film has nothing new or original to offer viewers. Maybe the two lead actors will be a tad more discerning next time when they select screenplay roles.