The Watcher Movie Review:


I think we maybe need a bit of history on this movie before we delve into the main part of the review. Keanu Reeves signed up to make this movie long before the success of The Matrix put him right back up on top in the money and credibility stakes. When he signed up he was apparently under the impression that it was an indie movie and his role was pretty much a cameo role and to add some breadth to his range. He even signed on for scale wages to help the movie get made.

Something happened inbetween him signing on to the movie and the start of production. Both Maria Tomei and James Spader signed onto the movie, and they got signed up at a cool million dollars each. How I'm sure you'll agree Keanu Reeves is a much bigger box office draw than either of them. Now I think I may be comfortable in thinking that Keanu may have thought that the other actors involved may have been signed up for scale wages as well. Well it appears he was not informed correctly. Oh yeah and most importantly because three largeish names were signed up the makers decided instead of making it as an indie project, they would turn it into a slasher pic!

Now personally if I had been Keanu Reeves I would have bailed out of the project, sounds like they screwed him about a bit. But as we all know after the fiasco Kim Basinger went through after Boxing Helena its a lot harder for a star to bail out of a prject if they have a watertight contract already signed. Well he went ahead and made the movie, but he did no press and is featured nowhere on the advertising either. That doesn't bode well does it considering he has quite happily plugged and had his picture all over some utter dreck before.

So after that little bit of background info you have probably already guessed that this movie isn't high art, more lowest common denominator, bums on seat, formula nonsense, and you'd be right on that.

James Spader plays a cop who years ago wasn't able to catch a serial killer. The case gets closed and Spader moves on to another town. Well the serial killer reappears and decides to play about with Spader's character and issues him a challenge to catch him before he kills the next victim.

Now the premise sounds at least halfway interesting, but its the shoddy lazy way it has been executed that messes everything up. Everything feels contrived and cliched. Bits and pieces are dropped into the plot hither and tither to try and join up the seams of a leaky plot. Subtlety is not a concern of this movie.

The performances are also pretty woeful, Keanu appears bored throughout and he seems to go through the motions as if he grudged doing the movie. This is a shame, yeah sure he wanted out of the project, but we all have to do things we don't like in life, but surely we should all try and give our best? James Spader's performance is pretty wooden and he looks as if he narcolepsy he looks so sleepy and disinterested throughout. Very little to say about Marisa Tomei as she is only in a total of four scenes, whether this is because they ended up on the cutting room floor I have no idea.

Gary Gray

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