The Watcher

Audience Reviews

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Jason W @Thejasonwatts Dec 26 Lots of good names in this, but some of the execution was lackluster. Had a hard time keeping attention, it was a little dry. Seemed like a longer episode of csi or something like that. Meh. See more Jonathan F @Arcradia Nov 14 It seems very unpopular as a Psychological Thriller Yet Keanu Reeves went on to do the John Wick movies in years to come. I certainly see why he went to make them movies this being the John Wick earlier years if you like. Personally this is and has been one of my favourite Keanu Reeves movies and has been for a long time a lot of cat & mouse between James Spader & Keanu Reeves. Hence why I without doubt awarded this movie with a well deserved five stars plenty of action twist and turns in the movie to keep you fully entertained though out the movie there is no way this movie is as bad as some reviews say. See more AJ C @RT83183339 02/17/2025 This film provides plenty of non Matrix slow mo Keanu Reeves, combined with A LOT of dissolving transitions and deliberate unfocussed shots as well as shaky cam. Sadly by this stage of the late 90s early 00s the Cat & Mouse style thriller had been done far better- see Copy Cat or Kiss the Girls. Due to the behind the scenes drama linked to the film it is apparent that Reeves is phoning in his performance and it is very evident throughout. Ernie Hudson and Marisa Tomei are great as always but are given very little to do. James Spader is competent and - other than in their first meeting- his chemistry with Chris Ellis is great. In fact if the film took itself less seriously or was about a less serious topic then Chris Ellis' performance could have been outstanding. Lesson to learn from this film- Always cut a hostage free before chasing a villain. See more Lolitskaden1 T @RT45623068 01/11/2025 This movie was so bad it was funny. if you’re looking for something serious to watch this isn’t it, on the other hand if your looking to laugh at a corny movie with bad cgi I’d say this is pretty good. See more matthias s @Thescreenasvor 01/29/2024 "The Watcher" offers a star-studded cast, with Keanu Reeves and James Spader leading the charge. While I'm a devout Keanu fan, this film left me scratching my head. The camerawork is a dizzying mess, making it hard to appreciate the excellent cast and their performances. James Spader is perfectly cast, but the decision to make Keanu the bad guy feels like a missed opportunity. Swap their roles, and the movie might have had some real intrigue. The flashback scenes are downright bizarre, and the thriller label falls flat – it lacks the tension and eeriness you'd expect. The plot, though decent, is marred by predictability. The director's choices, especially regarding camera work, are a letdown. The killings' motives are perplexingly weird, and aesthetically, it's a disaster. Despite some redeeming qualities in the plot and cast, "The Watcher" falls short of its potential, leaving me unthrilled and disappointed. See more 04/24/2022 I've heard two stories of how Keanu Reeves ended up in this movie. The first is that a friend forged his signature on the contract to be in this film and he did it rather than get involved in a lengthy legal battle. The second is that Reeves was playing hockey with director Joe Charbanic and verbally agreed to play a small role in the film in order for Charbanic to get the movie funded. The problem was that his role ended up being one of the leads. Regardless of the truth, Reeves was paid union scale for the movie while his co-stars like James Spader were paid at least a million. The actor reached an agreement with Universal Pictures in which he would not disclose what had happened until a year after the film's US release. In return, Universal agreed to downplay Reeves's involvement in marketing (he did no press) and asked the film's producers to give Reeves more profit participation. Since the movie was in first place for two weeks, he ended up making $2 million dollars. A year later, he told the Calgary Sun "I never found the script interesting, but a friend of mine forged my signature on the agreement. I couldn't prove he did and I didn't want to get sued, so I had no other choice but to do the film." So when critics -- like the aforementioned Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, who said, "Short of getting Angela Lansbury or Rodney Dangerfield or Lassie for the part, the miscasting could not be more complete. Keanu is profoundly wrong as a serial killer." -- hated this movie and Keanu was nominated at the Razzie awards for Worst Supporting Actor, he still honored the agreement. FBI Special Agent Joel Campbell (Spader) was too late to save a woman from a serial killer, so he leaves for Chicago, where he deals with migraines and has just one friend, his therapist Dr. Polly Beilman (Marisa Tomei). But when a girl dies in his building and the photos get mailed to him, obviously the killer has followed him. Despite FBI Special Agent Mike Ibby (Ernie Hudson) and Detective Hollis Mackie (Chris Ellis) asking him to come back, he wants to avoid the case. Then, David Allen Griffin (Reeves) sends him a photo of another girl and tells him that if he doesn't save her in nine hours, she'll die. He keeps repeating this game with the detective, telling him that he considers him a good friend. And when he takes Beilman, he really gets to Campbell. At least it has "Roads" by Portishead on the soundtrack. See more Read all reviews

The Watcher

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