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The Watcher has Keanu Reeves cast against type, but the movie is short on thrills, suspense, and believability. Read critic reviews
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Rent The Watcher on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, or buy it on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV.
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Movie Info
"The Watcher" is an exciting psychological thriller that takes a unique look into the minds of both a serial killer and the man who must, reluctantly, pursue him. In an almost Hitchcockian way, the film quickly introduces us to the killer, David Allen Griffin, played by Keanu Reeves, who for many years, preyed on lonely young women in the Los Angeles area. The story is set up to create a taut cat-and-mouse game between Griffin and FBI agent Joel Campbell.
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Rating: R (Violence|Language)
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Genre: Mystery & thriller
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Original Language: English
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Director: Joe Charbanic
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Producer: Jeff Rice, Christopher Eberts, Nile Niami, Elliott Lewitt
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Writer: Darcy Meyers, David Elliot, David Elliot, Clay Ayers
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Release Date (Theaters): wide
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $28.9M
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Runtime:
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Distributor: MCA/Universal Pictures [us]
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Production Co: Universal Pictures, Interlight
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Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround, Dolby SR
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Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)
Cast & Crew
Critic Reviews for The Watcher
Audience Reviews for The Watcher
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The Watcher is a fairly decent thriller, better at atmospherics than plot or characterization. It's a cat and mouse game featuring a relationship between the killer and the detective, somewhat like Eastwood's Bloodwork or the Danny Glover-Dennis Quaid thriller, Switchback. Keanu Reeves is seductive and creepy without being too stereotypical, while James Spader is excellent. He's such a good actor he makes anything he's in better. Reeves isn't capable of emotional depth, but he portrays enthusiasm convincingly here. Marisa Tomei is a great choice for Spader's girlfriend, but she's criminally underutilized in this movie. The film is just too implausible, but I liked the overall atmosphere. The setting in Chicago is another great touch. Since the plot is so derivative or unoriginal that it is negligible, the film depends on its big budget and performances. On those points, it succeeds. This certainly isn't an outstanding film, but the 10% average doesn't do it justice either.
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Dull Keanu in a dull film. It seems like I've seen hundreds of these. Yeah yeah, dramatic tension if you can suspend your disbelief significantly. Bordering on a waste of time.
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This film is unique in it's approach towards the serial killer story. Does it draw you in? Yes it does. Does it give you a dark, foreboding and sinister story? Oh you bet it does! The Watcher is an extremely entertaining if not almost borderline on brilliant film making on a rare and unique scale. This film embodies a certain flare and style that you have to be open minded and somewhat of a serial Killer thriller lover to really appreciate this film style and grandeur of it to see the murky and dark brilliance that lays beneath it all. This movie is not a particularly mind blowing SK thriller but it does have it's moments that it really jumps out at you and there are a few moments in the movie that you just jump in fright and that's when you know your watching a good thriller. Keanu( Who I thought was good in this as the SK but not quite good enough.) turns in a rather impressive performance as David Alan Griffin a man who lives to kill, a man who thrives on taking away another' s life. A man who lurks in the shadows and watches you and admires you like a cat before he kills a mouse Keanu's serial killer was ingenious in his planning and his methods were very smart and clean but what lacked here was the fact that none of his victim's had an adverse affect on the story, that was the only let down but besides that it was interesting to watch him work. James Spader plays a very convincing cop in this film, but not to convincing there are some scenes where you see almost no emotion or empathy for the victims of Griffin at all but that is easy to put to the side what redeems Spader in this film is his relentless chase of Griffin and his iron determination to bring him down. That's what saves Spader and that's what makes it fun to watch him work. Marisa Tomei this film could have done with out she really lowered the standards with her bland and very bad performance as the compassionate Psychiatrist( I mean she won an oscar for crying out loud!! She can do better than than this!) she really made it almost a drag to see her on screen (but hey at least she's nice to look at.) all in all she was the main weak point in this film not Keanu. When you over look the main outer layers of the story and get dug and see the inner layers you can fully comprehend and see the near greatness of this film and the great style it brings to the the thriller genre all in all The Watcher delivers great edge of your seat, blow out the lights entertainment you can't over look. Basically this film flat out rocks.
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Cast: James Spader, Keanu Reeves, Marisa Tomei, Ernie Hudson, Chris Ellis, Robert Cicchini, Jenny McShane, Rich Komenich Director: Joe Charbanic, Jeff Jensen Summary: Burned out after failing to bust a sadistic serial killer in Los Angeles, FBI agent Joel Campbell (James Spader) retires to Chicago. But the killer (Keanu Reeves) refuses to leave the lawman alone, and begins furnishing new clues designed to drive him mad. To motivate Campbell to rejoin the cat-and-mouse chase, the killer sends photos of his next victims. But it's up to Campbell to try to save them first. My Thoughts: "I liked it. Thought it was a good thriller. It's just you see so many movies about serial killers they all start looking the same. But I enjoyed Keanu Reeves playing the bad guy. Love him, Spader and Tomei. They were my reasons for watching this flick. They all did a great job. The movie is never slow, and it keeps you interested all the way through. Good rental."
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