The Watcher

2000 "Don't go home alone."
5.3| 1h36m| R| en| More Info
Released: 08 September 2000 Released
Producted By: Universal Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

FBI agent Joel Campbell, burnt-out and shell-shocked after years spent chasing serial killers, flees L.A. to begin a new life for himself in Chicago. But five months later, Joel's best laid plans are abruptly cut short when his new hometown becomes the setting for some particularly gruesome murders--murders that could only have been committed by one man: David Allen Griffin. One of Joel's most elusive and cunning nemeses, Griffin has followed his former pursuer to Chicago in order to play a sadistic game of cat and mouse. Taunting Joel with photographs of his intended victims and leaving his crime scenes meticulously free of clues in order to keep the police at bay, Griffin derives as much pleasure out of watching Joel react to every movement as watching his victims die. But when Griffin moves into Joel's inner circle, Joel must quickly find some way to stop him before someone close to him becomes the next one to die.

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Reviews

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
FlashCallahan A detective tracking a serial killer gives up all hope of solving the crimes and moves to another city. After he's settled in to his new home, the old acquaintance makes himself known. The serial killer has resurrected and continues to send him pictures of his next victim.......The Watcher is more famous for exploiting Keanu Reeves and his star power, and he's apparently disowned the film whenever he's asked about it, but underneath all it's notoriety, there's a decent serial killer film hidden in there.Granted, these dark serial killer films were everywhere after the advent of Se7en, and this, and maybe Along Came A Spider, spelled the death knell do this sub genre, so maybe if this film was made in the mod nineties, it would've been more of a success in my humble opinion.So we have James Spader struggling to come to terms with the killers obsession with him, and the fact that in less than ten years he will lose his hair and put on a ton of weight. And Marisa Tomei co-stars as the person who has to listen to him.So far, so mundane, so thank heavens for Reeves, who honestly puts in an amazing performance as Griffin, the serial killer obsessed with perfecting his art by studying his victims for weeks.It's really against type for him, but this makes his character more intense, because he's literally so nice in every one of his previous films. He really is great as the antagonist.Other than that, it ticks all the boxes in a cat and mouse thriller, the killer is always one step ahead of Spader, and Spader gets that little more frustrated, maybe he is beginning to feel some psychotic tendencies.There is nothing new to offer in the thriller genre, but one film the film does is show that Reeves can put in a decent performance, especially when he plays against type.
SnoopyStyle David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves) is a meticulous serial killer. Joel Campbell (James Spader) quits the FBI in frustration and moves to Chicago. Joel is a nervous wreck and sees psychiatrist Polly (Marisa Tomei). A neighbor of his is killed and then he finds pictures of victims in his old mail. Griffin continues to taunt him with a picture of his next victim, and he reluctantly returns to the investigation.The movie is doing this bad '90s slo-mo blurry flashing thing. It's intended to be stylish, but it looks very cheesy. A lot of this movie is trying to be cool but ends up being hokey. It's trying too hard.I like a lot of the actors here. Keanu Reeves makes for a charming pretty boy serial killer. James Spader is always good especially if he's a little bit damaged. The serial killer cat and mouse game is pretty good. But I just can't get over the cheesy effects.
LeonLouisRicci The inevitable influence of MTV and Music Videos on Mainstream Movies is glaringly evident in this hyper-kinetic Serial Killer Film that is nothing if an attempt to stimulate the synapses with razzle-dazzle beyond belief.A Casting reversal is haunting as things unfold in this almost average presentation of pomp and circumstance that is inconsistent and at times, especially in the end, incoherent. Spader would have been a better choice as the charming Serial Killer and Reeves would have been more at home with his limited Acting chops as the Detective.It is not bad but nothing memorable. How many of those dated Music Videos from MTV's Golden Age are lingering in the Mind. So here it is, a Video influenced Movie with little depth of field, bright and shiny, Whizzy and Bangy, images separating and splintering, with light trails everywhere. But in the end it just goes Poof, gone like a smoke ring.
robert-259-28954 Check the budget and earnings of this colossal turkey. The numbers speak for themselves. Half that budget must have gone to the first reviewers -- all paid shills. And how in God's name did they ever get stars of this caliber to actually sign the bottom line? What a terrible waste of perfectly good film stock... unless they shot it digitally. In that case, what a terrible waster of TIME. Now, dear friends, compare my review with the first, glowing reviews. This proves three things. Number one, money trumps truth. Number two, everyone is a professional critic. And number three, people today don't know the difference between The Transformers and Stanley Kubrick's 2001. And therein REALLY lies the rub.