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Movies / On DVD / The Watcher
The Watcher

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The Watcher (2000)

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11 %
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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 date; UK critics are listed first)
Bubble View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 26 2006 03:15 AM

Time Out

splat

Christopher Tookey

Dreadful performances, scanty motivation and excruciating dialogue.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 16 2002 01:50 PM

Daily Mail [UK]

splat
1/5

Matthew Turner

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 30 2002 08:16 AM

ViewLondon

N/R

Rich Cline

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 10 2001 06:29 PM

Shadows on the Wall

N/R

Alexander Walker

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 12 2001 02:39 PM

This is London

splat
1.5/4

Ian Waldron-Mantgani

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 22 2001 02:50 PM

UK Critic

splat
1/5

Jason Korsner

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: | comment Comment | Apr., 17 2001 04:23 PM

BBC

splat
1/5

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 21 2001 05:00 PM

Empire Magazine

splat
1/5

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 20 2008 03:15 AM

Hollywood.com

splat
2/5

Jim Lane

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 07 2008 03:15 AM

Sacramento News & Review

N/R

Joe Leydon

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 06 2008 03:15 AM

Variety

splat
1/5

Rob Gonsalves

If I never see another scene in which a woman is bound and gagged, while her killer struts around the room basking in his own psychotic cleverness, I won't mind a bit.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 23 2007 08:51 PM

eFilmCritic.com

tomato
6/10

John Venable

Not half bad as a rental.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 23 2006 06:34 PM

Supercala.com

N/R

Lisa Alspector

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 10 2005 03:29 AM

Chicago Reader

splat
1.5/5

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Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 10 2005 03:29 AM

Film Threat

splat
F

Frank Swietek

Nasty, sadistic, ugly and pointless.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 10 2005 03:29 AM

One Guy's Opinion

splat
D

Nick Schager

One of the lamest serial killer thrillers of the post-Silence of the Lambs era.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 04 2005 09:52 PM

Lessons of Darkness

N/R

Mark Freeman

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 24 2004 08:22 AM

Critical Eye

N/R

Eugene Novikov

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 22 2003 05:08 PM

Film Blather

splat
2.5/4

Jim Shelby

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Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 20 2003 05:08 PM

Palo Alto Weekly

 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Bubble View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Watcher

June 01, 2007: Another "Hercules" Flick?
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