The Watcher

Plot synopsis:
Retired FBI Special Agent Joel Campbell (James Spader) lives in Chicago, where he is struggling to come to terms with his failure to capture a serial killer back when he was working in Los Angeles. Campbell attends therapy sessions with Dr. Polly Beilman (Marisa Tomei), but otherwise has no other friends or social life.Campbell learns that a girl who lived in his apartment building has been killed. He does not pay it much attention until he opens his mail and finds that a picture of the girl had been sent to his apartment three days before the murder. He brings this information to the attention of the detective on the case, Det. Mackie (Chris Ellis), and comes to the conclusion that the same serial killer has arrived in Chicago. FBI Special Agent in Charge Ibby (Ernie Hudson) tries to persuade Campbell to return to the case, but he refuses.One night Campbell receives a phone call from David Griffin (Keanu Reeves), the serial killer, who reveals that he followed Campbell to Chicago and wants to rebuild the "rapport" they once had. Griffin tells Campbell that he will send a photo of a girl in the morning, and Campbell has until 9.00 at night to find her. Campbell tells Ibby that he wants back in on the case, and his request is granted.Campbell works together with Mackie and the rest of the team in getting the word out on finding the girl before the deadline. However, by the time Campbell gets her house number and calls, Griffin is already there, and has strangled her to death. Griffin suggests they continue with a different girl. The next day similar events follow as Campbell and his team try to find the next girl before the 9:00 pm deadline. They corner and almost catch Griffin, but he manages not only to kill the second girl but also escape. Campbell is injured during the car chase.The next day, another photo arrives, but it turns out to be the image of Lisa Anton (Yvonne Niami), Campbell's former lover who was killed indirectly because of Griffin back in Los Angeles. Campbell goes to Lisa's grave, where Griffin is waiting for him. Griffin explains that he has Beilman hostage somewhere, and only wants to talk with him. Campbell negotiates for Beilman's safety, and Griffin eventually agrees to bring Campbell to see her. During the drive, Griffin explains that he cares a great deal for Campbell, and considers him a "good friend". Campbell secretly uses his cell phone to call Mackie, cluing him in on the situation.Griffin and Campbell arrive at an abandoned warehouse, where inside Beilman has been tied up and gagged and surrounded by flammable materials and candles. The two men face off as the police arrive outside. The struggle culminates with the place catching fire. Campbell unties Beilman and gets them both to safety before the place explodes, killing Griffin.

Tags: suspenseful, neo noir, murder, flashback

Review:
Joel rejoins the police in an effort to save his potential victims as well as catching him.I, like many others, wasn't too bothered by this film when it was released - it looked like it would be yet another serial killer movie, and it was!
The action scenes are not great and the film never really has a real air of menace or tension, but it is still slick enough to watch - even if it is almost impossible to be emotionally involved.The director managed to get his timing right to get Reeves in the midst of a reasonable cast; he shot a few videos for Reeves' band years prior in exchange for Reeves doing this film which, despite hitting it big with The Matrix, was a promise he honoured.
After being identified and harassed by the elusive serial killer David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves), the distressed FBI agent Joel Campbell (James Spader) moves to Chicago from Los Angeles in order to secure his own safety and peace of mind.
This choice weakens The Watcher's attempts to establish realism around both characters' past connection, and loosens the otherwise tight pace of the plot.The watcher hits on both a realistic level, and an entertaining level never before reached with a movie starring Keanu Reeves..
He literally "left" his home base in Los Angeles, defeated, because of a particularly hairy case involving an unusually devious, crafty and risk-loving serial killer who went by the name of David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves).
Griffin is able to play the games he does only because so many people are faceless and ignored.Charbanic films The Watcher with a unique visual style can be "arty"--especially during the flashbacks--and conventionally build suspense at the same time.
The interaction between Keanu Reeves, James Spader and Marisa Tomei make this film.
I would have liked a little more elaboration on what happened in the past between James Spader and Keanu Reeves.
Also, I wish the movie had shown part of the session between the Psychologist, played by Marisa Tomei, and the serial killer, played by Keanu Reeves.
It's hard to decide what exactly is the worst thing about this attempt at a crime mystery movie: the jerky, indecisive cinematography; the intrusive "alternative" soundtrack; terrible acting; the completely cliched script or the general frustration one has in trying to watch this movie that is truly an insult to one's intelligence.The story follows a burned-out, pill-popping ex-LAPD cop played straight out of the cliche handbook by James Spader.
After taunting James Spader with two more young women who quickly become victims, and extending the movie length during the first forty minutes, Keanu finally makes it personal by targeting Spader's psychiatrist played by a confused, and noticeably weary, Marisa Tomei.
Joe Charbanic's "The Watcher" is another rehearse in Hollywood's obsession with serial killer films that call for big stars and bloody murders.
The main character, Joel Campbell (James Spader), is an FBI agent who recently moved from Los Angeles to Chicago to escape the stress and recollections of his experiences tracking down psychotic murderers, specifically David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves), who's trademark includes strangling young women with piano strings.
He's fine, but there isn't much to work with here.Maybe the filmmakers knew they had a weak movie (though that does give them a lot of credit) because there are some face-saving gestures that also painfully fail, like inserts of jerky footage, or other footage in a digitally processed excess that ends up each time being one of Spader's dreams.
Some people don't like Keanu as an actor, but I love a lot of the movies he's done (Matrix, Street Kings, Speed, Bill & Ted, Constantine & Devil's Advocate off the top of my head).
Where can I start with this visual and mental trash - the acting was bad (except for the police partner), Spader gave his acting the energy level of a slug, Reeves acted as if he was performing in his first high school made-at-home movie with his best friend and their very first video cam.
I'm not huge fans of James Spader or Keanu Reeves; however, that didn't stop me from watching this film.
I'm glad I went because not only did I enjoy this film, I have come to enjoy Spader and Reeves as actors.Keanu Reeves takes a departure from his usual good guy persona to portray a serial killer.
He does such a great job, I asked myself why was this the first movie he portrayed a villain because he was so good at it."The Watcher" offers nothing new in way of plot but it does have performances turned in by Reeves and Spader that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
James Spader as a sympathetic character and Keanu Reeves as a psychotic one indicates that whoever made this movie put their balls to the wall.
At that point, you're hooked--much as you are to a cheesy drama or daytime soap--and the end pays off.Spader and Reeves both play well against type, giving them both points for true acting chops, and Tomei takes her career a step further very quietly in this role.
Dog food.Everything sucks in this so-called movie:a screenplay so hackneyed the average viewer must have seen the story a hundred times or more,flashy directing,poor acting from the leads,poor-as usual- female part whose only raison d'être is screaming.James Spader's wooden acting is absolutely awful.At the beginning of the movie,he's a deeply depressed man,living on acebutolol ,seconal ,you name it,unable to find the way back home (that's what he says to his analyst)and the following day ,he turns into a dashing,dynamic elegant cop.As far as the analyst is concerned,her only purpose is to provide the movie with an "intellectual" side.Keanu Reeves is totally unconvincing as the villain,,particularly when he "dances".Some would be terrifying scenes look like spoofs on thrillers .Do not watch!.
Joel Campbell (James Spader) and David Griffin (Keanu Reeves) are like binary stars that revolve around a common center of gravity.
Actually, it's a rather tired film concept.In Chicago, Campbell introduces the story premise about serial killer Griffin who preys on young women, and uses his killings as a game to be played out with Campbell, who has no choice but to participate.
"The Watcher" tells of a serial killer (Reeves) who plays cat & mouse with a burnt out FBI agent (Spader) by stalking him and sending him photos of his next victim, all young women, 24 hours before killing them.
The direction ranges from tired to inept, the script is generic, the dialogue is banal, the casting is ridiculous (Keanu Reeves), the characters two-dimensional and completely under-explained and Marisa Tomei, an actress whose work generally runs from workmanlike (The Paper) to wonderful (Unhook The Stars, My Cousin Vinny) is reduced to playing the damsel on the train tracks - the role shouldn't even have been first billed as it barely rates a cameo.Bottom line?
The story concerns a burned out F.B.I. agent (James Spader) who seeks refuge in Chicago when he fails to apprehend Griffen (Keanu Reeves) a demented serial killer.
The hero and villain are truly defined by two driven actors,James Spader and Keanu Reeves, and with every twist and turn, their characters pull you further into their struggle to win over the other.
Is this worth watching?(Bad pun I know) yes.The Watcher is about a serial killer that tormented a L.A. detective for months and killed his girlfriend.
Formulaic stalker thriller stays afloat by the thankful participation of James Spader, playing a cop tracking a serial killer who stalks his victims, who, in any role, always manages to breath life into even the most vapid of lines.
Very contrived flick as former FBI agent, James Spader tracks down serial killer, Keanu Reeves who has a slight obsession with Spader and a serious obsession with killing women with piano wire.
For the most part, "The Watcher" is another serial killer movie: there's a psychopath killing people and a detective has to stop him.
But the three-way relationships between the killer (Keanu Reeves), the detective (James Spader) and his psychiatrist (Marisa Tomei) add an extra, more interesting dimension to it.I probably should remind you that this is NOT a movie for the squeamish.
Because the things happening in the movie,they are all directed by the killer.He pulls the policemen where he wants,he lets them know what he wants.But still we don't really understand what's the point of the murders.Actually we don't know anything about how and why the killer made Joel Campbell such an obsession like this.What we see is a chase (Another question:Who's chasing who) in which killer puts his reasons into a psychology about the cop.And the scenes that we see things in the eyes of the killer,I don't think they're enough to build the connection.That's the biggest missing point.
First,there is a rhytm in the movie.It's not long so it doesn't make you bored much.I think the writer couldn't keep the screenplay longer.So for a simple watcher it's satisfying.And the color and the technical stuff like this is good.Because Joe Charbanic is a music video director,it's clear that he knows well about this side.
Then,the cast is surprisingly good.It seems like Keanu Reeves played in this movie just because he knows Joe Charbanic from a video of his group;Dogstar.I don't think he really wanted to play in this movie.and there is not much chance to watch James Spader and Marissa Tomei in the big screen,especially in big productions.There is not an acting-feast but but it's nice to watch them,especially together.
While I truly believe that Reeves is a good actor who has really shone in previous movies ('Much Ado About Nothing', 'Speed' etc.), here he fails to convince.His nemesis is Campbell, played by James Spader.
David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves) is a serial killer who has developed an obsession with Joel Campbell (James Spader), the cop who has been pursuing him.
and led to the final obvious ending.I didn't feel that he played a realistic serial killer at all his acting was very bad and it just is not the role for him I would never have compared this to the shining the shining is a cult classic and actually an interesting movie.this is one of the worst movies i have seen i would compare it to the wicker man from Nicholas cage this past year that was also a stinker.If you want a good scary movie with a big Hollywood star try gothica at least there was some sort of plot switches.in my opinion this was his attempt to get out of his cookie cutter roles..
Despite the participation of Keanu Reeves, James Spader and Marisa Tomei, there's just no reason to watch this whatsoever: The screenplay is wincingly terrible, the acting is barely emotionally ambulant, and the music choices are distracting and obstructive.
A prevailing thought while viewing The Watcher was that Keanu Reeves is an odd choice to play a lone wolf serial killer, but he actually suits it pretty well.
The novelty angle of "The Watcher" is that it tries to underscore the point of how invisible people are in this fast paced and uncaring world - and even the breakthroughs of modern technology can't save the future victims of "The Watcher" despite him sending a picture of his would-be-victims a whole 24 hours beforehand to the police.Therein lies the killer's fascination with an FBI detective (James Spader) who's come the closest to catching him.
The killer (Keanu Reeves) thinks he's made a friend of sorts in that Spader needs him to continue what he's doing in order for his existence to have some meaning.
In the beginning of the film it's actually Reeves, who's relocated to the city the agent has moved to, who is responsible for Spader's resurrection of sorts when he starts killing again.Lofty ideas and solid social commentary may have been part of the aim in "The Watcher" but a clumsy script with some very silly dialog at times, huge loopholes, a very unconvincing performance by Reeves, cardboard supporting characters, annoying frenzied editing, way too experimental photography and a rushed ending keep the film from achieving anything special.Reeves can be quite good when the material suits him but here the primary focus seems to be making him look cool and hip (and very dashing) rather than authentic.
***SPOILERS*** Despite actor Keanu Reeves being against the part he was forced to play, or end up getting sued by the studio for millions, of serial killer David Allen Griffin his performance is far better then the many previous roles that he had including his 1999 multi million dollar blockbuster "The Matrix".A number of young women end up getting murdered in Chicago under the exact same circumstances that 11 women were murdered in L.A a few years earlier.
When FBI agent Spader burns out in LA & moves to Chicago, he enlists the help of a psychoanalyst Tomei, who turns out is being stalked by serial killer Reeves.This plot line has been done so many times in the 90's that it's become predictable.
There's no way that anyone who's a fan of these types of movies can't guess what's in store for each of the main characters.But the surprising part of this film, to me, is who plays the roles.
When I first heard of the movie coming out and who was starring in the film, I thought James Spader would have the dark, brooding, bad-guy role, such as the part he played in "Secretary," or "Bad Influence," and I thought Keanu Reeves would play the good guy, like he did in "Speed." So that switch, in itself, was a nice change of pace to where, if you like either of these actors, you'll like the movie, in turn..
I think the movie would have been better if Keanu played the good guy and Spader played the bad guy, i think maybe.I would like to see a prequel, it could be called THE WATCHER: IN THE BEGINNING..
I felt that the movie could have been a little better if Keanu Reeves and James Spader had switched parts.
Reeves could have done the intensity of the cop beautifully and Spader could have played the killer with a coolness and that would have made the character more chilling.
First off, Keanu Reeves could play not a serial killer character.
As the movie moves along it becomes very evident that the serial killer wants to be caught to renew his special kinship with Spader's FBI character.
although i did not think that he could do it...keanu reeves pulls off a villain in this latest attempt at a serial killer thriller that leaves nothing to the imagination.there was nothing surprising about this film and although movie moguls are coming up with new and twisted ways to kill people and create deadly villains, the stories are all the same and the watcher is no exception.the story ended itself right in the beginning because right away it was so predictable.
you knew who the killer was, you knew his motives and you knew whom the last victim would be and why right in the first twenty minutes of the film.true it was gory at times, but even the "watcher" would not waste his time watching something like this.
Wannabe serial killer Keanu Reeves watches women and kills them apparently for no other reason than the attention from traumatized-former-killer-hunter James Spader.
James Spader and Keanu Reeves give EXCELLENT performances.
i thought this movie was well filmed, the actors were amazing, especially keanu reeves who was charming, creepy, and made you hate him and be intrigued by him all at the same time.
David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves) is a meticulous serial killer.
In this film, Keanu Reeves plays a very "twisted" and "stalker to the extreme" kind of Serial Killer.
The film follows Keanu (as the Serial Killer) hunting victims.
In an unexpected and surprisingly great performance, Keanu Reeves has turned evil in "The Watcher."  I'm not huge fans of James Spader or Keanu Reeves; however, that didn't stop me from watching this film.
In an unexpected and surprisingly great performance, Keanu Reeves has turned evil in "The Watcher."  I'm not huge fans of James Spader or Keanu Reeves; however, that didn't stop me from watching this film.
I'm glad I got the chance to rent this movie because I did not enjoy this film, I have come to enjoy and appreciate Spader and Reeves as actors.Reeves' departure from his usual good guy persona to portray a serial killer was outstanding.
I'm glad I got the chance to rent this movie because I did not enjoy this film, I have come to enjoy and appreciate Spader and Reeves as actors.Reeves' departure from his usual good guy persona to portray a serial killer was outstanding.
"The Watcher" offers nothing new in way of plot but it does have performances turned in by Reeves and Spader that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
"The Watcher" offers nothing new in way of plot but it does have performances turned in by Reeves and Spader that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
A deranged serial killer(Keanu Reeves) plays cat-and-mouse with a burned out detective(James Spader)by sending him photos of future victims.
keanu reeves is not that good in this movie.
Keanu Reeves' and James Spader's characters both advanced through the story, and there were several wonderful lines.
Spader would have been a better choice as the charming Serial Killer and Reeves would have been more at home with his limited Acting chops as the Detective.It is not bad but nothing memorable.
Detective Campbell (James Spader) must track serial killer, David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves) who has been playing a cat and mouse game with him even going so far as to move to Chicago after Campbell does so.
James Spader does a credible job as the tortured FBI agent Campbell, but Marisa Tomei sleepwalks through her role as his concerned (and pretty!) psychologist, and Keanu Reeves is laughably bad as the scary serial murderer.