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Movies / On DVD / The Watcher
The Watcher

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The Watcher (2000)

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Reviews Counted:85

Fresh:9

Rotten:76

Average Rating:3.4/10

Consensus: The Watcher has Keanu Reeves cast against type, but the movie is short on thrills, suspense, and believability.

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: FBI agent Joel Campbell (James Spader) has gone into hiding. Traumatized and beaten down after years of pursuing psychotic killers in Los Angeles, he is trying to carve a new, less stressful, life... FBI agent Joel Campbell (James Spader) has gone into hiding. Traumatized and beaten down after years of pursuing psychotic killers in Los Angeles, he is trying to carve a new, less stressful, life for himself in Chicago. But his guilty past follows him. He has only been in Chicago for a few months when there is a rash of gruesome murders, all of which follow a sickeningly familiar pattern: They are undoubtedly the work of one man -- David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves).

The cunning and tormenting Griffin prodded and eluded Campbell for years in Los Angeles. And now he has pursued his tracker to Chicago. For Griffin, the vicious, merciless killing of lonely young women has merely become a pretext for a sadistic game of cat and mouse game between himself and Campbell. Before each murder he sends the FBI agent a photograph of his intended victim and dares him to find her before he strikes again.

Each successive killing reminds Campbell of his past failures, dredging up feelings of helplessness and loss that he has been trying to suppress. And for his nemesis Griffin, Campell's exquisite torture becomes his entire reason for killing.

He meticulously stages one final murder, designed to destroy Campbell by confronting him with his guilt-plagued past. And unless Campbell can stop him, he will become the killer's ultimate victim. [More]

Starring: Keanu Reeves, James Spader, Marisa Tomei, Robert Cicchini

Starring: Keanu Reeves, James Spader, Marisa Tomei, Robert Cicchini, Chris Ellis, Ernie Hudson, Jenny McShane

Director: Joe Charbanic

Director: Joe Charbanic
Screenwriter: Clay Ayers, Joe Charbanic, David Elliott, Darcy Meyers
Producer: Nile Niami, Patrick Choi

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Watcher

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
03/21/01
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
06/12/01
Alexander Walker
Alexander Walker
This is London

Dreadful performances, scanty motivation and excruciating dialogue.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
12/16/02
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
05/22/01
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

The most fun you can have with this insultingly formulaic and utterly predictable film is trying to guess which cliché will be next.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Jason Korsner
Jason Korsner
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/30/02
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/10/01
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Director Joe Charbanic does some good work with the stylized visuals but forgets that if we don't care about the characters we don't care what the scenery around them looks like either.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/10/05
Film Threat
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Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
11/20/08
Hollywood.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[Keanu's] line readings, aiming for a mixture of suavity and creepiness, just sound silly.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Watcher brings nothing new to the party. It's an uninspired, standard-issue mimeo whose only distinguishing feature is a reversal in its casting.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
TNT's Rough Cut

The same sick story. Even the small touches seem stale.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Andy Seiler
Andy Seiler
USA Today
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
08/02/02
Betty Jo Tucker
Betty Jo Tucker
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
rec.arts.movies.reviews

A hodgepodge of half-baked visual styles. Not many thrills, either.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Graham
Bob Graham
San Francisco Chronicle

Mind you, it's not a bad serial killer movie. Just routine.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
01/01/00
Brian McTavish
Brian McTavish
Kansas City Star
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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Latest News for The Watcher

June 01, 2007: Another "Hercules" Flick?
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