The Watcher (2000/I)

Director:

Joe Charbanic

Writers (WGA):

Darcy Meyers (story) and
David Elliot (story) ...

Release Date:

8 September 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Don't go home alone.

Plot:

David Allen Griffin is a cool killer- time and time again, he chooses a female victim, studies her for...

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Stalking By Night | Fast Motion Sequence | Police Chase | Cemetery

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

James Spader	...	Joel Campbell
Keanu Reeves	...	David Allen Griffin
Marisa Tomei	...	Dr. Polly Beilman
Ernie Hudson	...	Ibby
Chris Ellis	...	Hollis
Robert Cicchini	...	Mitch Casper
Yvonne Niami	...	Lisa Anton
Jenny McShane	...	Diana (as Jennifer McShane)
Gina Alexander	...	Sharon
Rebekah Louise Smith	...	Ellie
Joseph Sikora	...	Skater (as Joe Sikora)
Jill Peterson	...	Jessica (as Jillian Peterson)
Michele DiMaso	...	Rachel (as Michelle Dimaso)
Andrew Rothenberg	...	Jack Fray
David Pasquesi	...	Norton

Also Known As:

Driven (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Interlight

Trivia:

In the opening scene, Keanu Reeves dances to the Rob Zombie song "Dragula" while doing kung fu moves behind green lighting. This is a homage to his previous blockbuster, The Matrix (1999).

Goofs:

Continuity: In the car chase, Campbell jumps into a Ford police cruiser, but in every other scene (including interiors), he is driving a Chevrolet.

Quotes:

David Allen Griffin: [to Dr. Polly Beilman] Do you think... some of your patients might pay to come see you because... you're very pretty.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Not Another Teen Movie (2001)

Soundtrack:

HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER

Binary Opposition

Joel Campbell (James Spader) and David Griffin (Keanu Reeves) are like binary stars that revolve around a common center of gravity. Each man needs the other for a sense of identity. They function as a single entity, even though their motives are in moral opposition. 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 film's structure relies on tons of flashbacks to Campbell's previous involvement with the killer in California.

The main problem here is that the film's plot depends on multiple film clichés. You've got your standard police chase scenes with flashing lights and screeching tires. You've got your standard melodramatic TV news, repeated over and over and over. You've got a killer who can miraculously overcome every obstacle thrown at him. The film's final twenty minutes are nothing but a string of cinematic clichés.

You get the feeling that the filmmakers used a tried-and-true money making film concept as a template, hurriedly wrote a script, then attached well-known box-office actors to rev up the financial bottom line, for quick megabucks. If that was their plan, I don't think it worked. For many viewers, including myself, the film comes across as stale, insipid, and uninspired.

The acting is not convincing. Both James Spader and Keanu Reeves sleepwalk through their roles, emotionally uninvolved. The casting of lovely Marisa Tomei as a psychiatrist is not credible, in a role meant for an older intellectual. But, of course, as a beautiful young woman, Tomei fits in nicely as a handy target for the killer. And the film's contemporary pumped up rock music I found irritating and distracting. The color cinematography is adequate, if conventional.

"The Watcher" is just one more cop and killer movie in a saturated genre. The film has nothing new or original to offer viewers. Maybe the two lead actors will be a tad more discerning next time when they select screenplay roles.