O Observador

Enjoyed this film.James Spader...love him. Can't go wrong with him or Marissa Tomei and also always enjoy Keanu Reeves

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.

"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.

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.

Having failed to catch a serial killer who finally murdered a woman he had been sleeping with, Joel Campbell moves cities and lives his life on benefits suffering from migraines, heavily medicated most of the time. This painful but quiet life is shattered when the killer follows him to the city and begins a game of cat and mouse with him - sending him a picture of a woman 24 hours before he kills her. Joel rejoins the police in an effort to save his potential victims as well as catching him.

I, like many others, wasn't too bothered by this film when it was released - it looked like it would be yet another serial killer movie, and it was! The plot requires the usual gimmick and here it is the old chestnut of the cop and bad guy needing each other and the killer having a sort of respect and need for his pursuer. None of the film will surprise you but it still moves forward reasonably quickly without being dull and it is reasonably enjoyable. The action scenes are not great and the film never really has a real air of menace or tension, but it is still slick enough to watch - even if it is almost impossible to be emotionally involved.

The director managed to get his timing right to get Reeves in the midst of a reasonable cast; he shot a few videos for Reeves' band years prior in exchange for Reeves doing this film which, despite hitting it big with The Matrix, was a promise he honoured. However as a director his music video roots are heavily showing here with far too many flashy visual tricks that stick out from the body of the film and actually take away more than they bring. However, getting Reeves was worth him having the chair for his star does surprisingly well to step out of his Neo role and into a mean, playful role. No, he's not doing anything different with it from anyone else who plays this type of serial killer role but he is still charismatic enough to make a difference. Spader is also pretty good and has more to work with than Reeves, but Tomsei is almost totally wasted with very little to do to justify such a well known actress. To be honest none of them have much to work with above the norm, but they still add to the film by their names.

Overall I did quite enjoy the film but I will be the first to admit that it was nothing new and really didn't do anything different or unusual with the basic premise and material. The director tries to liven it up a bit with the odd visual trick, but it only serves to make the film look a little desperate to be different. The end result is an average thriller that has a better than average cast (for this type of thing) and will pass the time without annoying you if you know what to expect.