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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 critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

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

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: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/30/02
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Click to read the article

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

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: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/10/01
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
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
N/R

Click to read the article

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

is stirring, has action, humor, and great dialogue (the Spader character is artfully drawn and portrayed).

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

It's grindingly mediocre, in a way that probably would have sent it straight to video were Reeves' name not on the marquee.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
01/01/00
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Utiliza el gastado recurso argumental de que tanto el bueno como el malo se necesitan mutuamente para poder existir

Full Review Source: Moviola | comment Comment
03/16/01
Jorge Avila Andrade
Jorge Avila Andrade
Moviola

The Watcher is thoroughly European, a nice find.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
01/01/00
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

The Watcher proves to be low on suspense and high on contrivances.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Keanu Reeves may very well be the least convincing, least frightening serial killer in the history of the psycho-thriller genre in The Watcher.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

Perhaps because of his shaggy-slacker demeanor, Reeves inspires another reaction altogether: snickering.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
01/01/00
Philip Booth
Philip Booth
Orlando Weekly

Has 'direct to video' stamped all over it.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jay Boyar
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel

What should have been an interesting psychological relationship about two men, matched in many ways, who live on opposite sides of the law .. doesn't work here.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

To borrow a phrase from another Chicagoan, John Belushi, The Watcher is a 'but nooooo' movie.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe

The sledgehammer soundtrack editing is also baffling, considering that Charbanic's background is in music videos.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Vera H-C Chan
Vera H-C Chan
Contra Costa Times

The Watcher will have written itself in your head by your third handful of popcorn.

Full Review Source: Mr. Showbiz | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cody Clark
Cody Clark
Mr. Showbiz
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
all

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June 01, 2007: Another "Hercules" Flick?
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