The Watcher (2000)

The Watcher (2000): Dir: Joe Charloanic / Cast: Keanu Reeves, James Spader, Marisa Tomei, Ernie Hudson, Chris Ellis: Horror misfire about an evil presence prevailing over innocent victims. James Spader plays a cop who is haunted by the memory of his girlfriend's burning death. Analyzing the situation he finds her tied to a chair. He removes the tape from her mouth then pursues the suspect. While she burns to death I got to wondering why he didn't untie her while the going was good? He moves away and seeks therapy from Marisa Tomei whom we can guess will be his next rescue mission. Keanu Reeves is sighted as the killer so that viewers can avoid any surprises. He sends photos of his victims to Spader and allows him until nine-o-clock to locate them. One girl has her picture posted everywhere yet nobody notices her even when she walks amongst them. Lackluster directing by Joe Charloanic with drab production. Reeves is miscast and downright laughable as the villain. He is one of the most boring villains ever conjured up for a film. Spader is just as bad in a cardboard role of hero. Tomei spends her biggest scenes bound to a chair in a lame reference to the film's opening. Ernie Hudson also appears as well as Chris Ellis as a detective whose first clue should have been to find a better script than this. An exercise in exploitation and stupidity at its worst. Score: 1 / 10

This dreadful film is one of the best examples available of Hollywood crap! In place of an intriguing plot, there is gee-whiz camera work. Instead of crisp dialogue, there are pointless shifts from positive images to negative colour. Instead of catchy drama, there is mindless and sensational violence and a head thumping soundtrack. Technically, it is well done. But then impressive high technology is not unique to movies. It's also used effectively in the processing of garbage, where this DVD most certainly will find its deserved fate. I bought the DVD at a garage sale. Better had I spent my one (Canadian) dollar on the leaky ballpoint pen or the scratched up Mitch Miller LP.

Here's a nice side dish of a serial killer thriller, in spite of an inadequate performance in role of the title, although we weren't expecting Oscar glory here. The premise is good, although borrows little parts from other movies of this ilk. Taunted ex cop, Spader has moved to the windy city, on the count of a case involving a serial killer, David Allen Griffin (Reeves) who's tracked him down, and come back out of hiding, ready to begin a new "f with you game", cat and mouse, what have you. Reeves's character, void of any emotion, quite an easy thing for this actor to play, plays a cool and cold nutter who watches women for weeks, jots down their routines, studies them, then on that big night, strangles them mercilessly with piano wire. This time around, Spader has Reeves sending him fed ex's with photos of intended victims, then gives him a time ratio to track down these women, solely relying on the evidence of photo, before they're a bloody memory. Pity Spader doesn't check his mail everyday, where Spader's propelled right back into action, teaming up with other authorities to try and nail this psycho, his partner looking like Freeman's good friend from Kiss The Girl's, and Along Came A Spider. The Watcher I must say, is quite an involving psycho thriller, just not as good as the others, but fans of the genre will love it. I really enjoyed this movie. It's very suspenseful in portions of the film, and is bloody too. You really feel sorry for the young women who die at Reeve's hand. Reeves is truly miscast. He's unbelievable and is about as scary as a cool draft. It's one of the worst casting decisions ever made, but there a story behind this. Spader's really good as the taunted cop, the meeting between him and Reeves in the cemetery, funny and interesting, my favorite scene, something you wouldn't expect. For Spader, it's the first time he sees this killer as remaining faceless for his past years in his taunting. I must say, I liked the car chase, and Marissa Tomei as the shrink was solid, but really deserves better material than this. I did really enjoy The Watcher though, but watching Keanu play psycho, is taxing, if torturous, his dancing, throwing a bit of relief into it.

The first thing to note, importantly, is that the victims are not sexually assaulted in any way ("no touchy no feely"). This film doesn't rely on gratuitous uncomfortable and horrific ordeals to notch up the fear-factor despite Griffin (Reeves) being a prolific serial killer - unusually the murdered girls are more or less incidental and his particular interest in what he does is never disclosed. You do feel the tension, and it is a gripping and tense thriller, where less is more for the nasty bits. The plot centres around the sadomasochistic reliance between the serial killer and the cop Campbell (Spader). For Campbell, the fallout from chasing Griffin, and giving up and moving away, has ruined his life so completely that rather than Griffin being his raison d'etre, he is all he has been left with; his hatred, guilt, insomnia, night terrors and prescription drug dependency for debilitating migraines keep Griffin in the centre of his world albeit unwelcome and from which he is unable to escape. Conversely, Griffin's psychopathology for some reason has evolved to require Campbell as an addition to his efficient killing theatre; he doesn't seem afraid of being caught, and takes increasing risks for proximity with Campbell. The psychology here would be interesting, but it is glossed over other than brief mentions of past events (ie the involvement of Campbell's girlfriend) and Campbell's Psychiatrist Polly (Marisa Tomei) falls into the Hollywood trap of limiting "psychology/psychiatry" to clichéd questions which shed little light. Despite her implausibility but predictable involvement, it is she who voices that they need each other – Griffin describes Campbell as his best friend and brother, and alludes to deeper significance between them and it is a lack of a clear explanation that I feel is the gaping hole in the plot but the film works well without it, it's just ME who's interested in forensic psychology and wants to know why. Marisa Tomei's performance is good but the screenplay limits her potential, and Spader and Reeves overshadow her. Spader is one of my favourite actors, he is terribly underrated and, like Reeves, his screen presence and acting method lies in the minutiae of a performance and Spader shines as broken, exhausted and desperate and it is unusual for him to be in an action role. Reeves is charming, friendly, a little flirtatious to be beguiling as Griffin, and as dangerous as a smiling crocodile. Unlike most cop dramas roles are reversed, Reeves is both beautiful and hideous in his portrayal, remarkably well adjusted and secure and Spader is the addled victim in free-fall. The clock is constantly ticking, and it's tense watching the police desperate to win, and always they are so agonisingly close - which the audience sees but the characters can't, which is clever. The cinematography is a melange of styles and devices to narrate the story - dream-sequences that tell back-story that are repeated with increasing revelation, blurred images, romantic bright montages, slow-motion, staccato frames, and grainy black and white and heavy breathing heard over the soundtrack – none are original but are used here in abundance and confusing. The music too is controversial and sometimes incongruous, yet again, and as the viewer you are very aware that all these are being used deliberately and they seem too contrived but I'm not sure whether they are successful – I quite liked them but some saw them as amateurish. The film sets up its predictability, but then in a cop vs killer film there is little that can be truly original. It is a rather satisfying film, but perhaps the Director was trying too hard by over-reaching with a mediocre screenplay or by overuse of too many styles and not having the gumption to know whether they were doing drama, thriller, chiller, action film or even a dark comedy as there was some humour (especially Chris Ellis as other cop Hollis) in there. It seems to flail a bit, and reaches too far and misses to be excellent. It's a good film but the performances of Spader and Reeves hold its head above water.