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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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41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The Watcher is a numbingly familiar exercise in fear, disgorging regular doses of grisly violence buoyed by precious little plot and pitifully thin character development.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle

Deciding to see The Watcher is like going to a brand-new restaurant and ordering the hamburger: Sure, it'll be OK, but you know exactly what it's going to taste like, and surely there's something more interesting on the menu.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Following one of the most pitiful title sequences I've ever seen, The Watcher actually proceeds to become one of the most pitiful thrillers I've ever seen.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

First-time director Joe Charbanic seems to have watched too many music videos.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press

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
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Philadelphia City Paper | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Philadelphia City Paper

The Watcher is watchable if you care for loudly fermenting garbage.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinemaphile.org | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Keyes
David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org

Everything about the film is a cliché.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The movie is called The Watcher and, let me tell you, it's something no one should watch. Not this weekend. Not on video. Not in this lifetime.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

Comes this close to overcoming its problems and succeeding as a thriller, but doesn't quite make it.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

The Watcher is good adventure-thriller fun. Turn your brain off and just enjoy the ride.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Enrique Fernandez
Enrique Fernandez
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

A conventional slasher movie that's larded its bloodletting with pretension.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
01/01/00
Gary Mairs
Gary Mairs
culturevulture.net

[James Spader] is eminently, um, watchable.

comment Comment
01/01/00
J. Rentilly
J. Rentilly
TNT's Rough Cut

Rarely has a film about a serial killer induced such a calming effect and, at times, one of downright levity, as this dull flick.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jackie Loohauis
Jackie Loohauis
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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

Has 'direct to video' stamped all over it.

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

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
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; 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?
Anyone out there ever seen the Lou Ferrigno "Hercules" movies? Hilarious stuff. Anyway, Millennium Films is planning to bring the character back to the big screen. Again. More...

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