IMDb > The Watcher (2000/I)
The Watcher
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The Watcher (2000/I) More at IMDbPro »

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The Watcher (2000) -- US Home Video Trailer from Universal
The Watcher (2000) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
5.2/10   12,142 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 5% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Joe Charbanic

Writers (WGA):

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

Contact:

View company contact information for The Watcher on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

8 September 2000 (USA) more

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller more

Tagline:

Don't go home alone. more

Plot:

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

Awards:

1 nomination more

User Comments:

Binary Opposition more (163 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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
more
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Additional Details

Also Known As:

Driven (USA) (working title)
more

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA more

Company:

Interlight more


Fun Stuff

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). more

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. more

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. more

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Not Another Teen Movie (2001) more

Soundtrack:

HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER more


FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
Binary Opposition, 7 October 2007
Author: Lechuguilla from Dallas, Texas

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.

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