Nonureva Really Surprised!

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Yvonne Jodi Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

FlashCallahan A detective tracking a serial killer gives up all hope of solving the crimes and moves to another city. After he's settled in to his new home, the old acquaintance makes himself known. The serial killer has resurrected and continues to send him pictures of his next victim.......The Watcher is more famous for exploiting Keanu Reeves and his star power, and he's apparently disowned the film whenever he's asked about it, but underneath all it's notoriety, there's a decent serial killer film hidden in there.Granted, these dark serial killer films were everywhere after the advent of Se7en, and this, and maybe Along Came A Spider, spelled the death knell do this sub genre, so maybe if this film was made in the mod nineties, it would've been more of a success in my humble opinion.So we have James Spader struggling to come to terms with the killers obsession with him, and the fact that in less than ten years he will lose his hair and put on a ton of weight. And Marisa Tomei co-stars as the person who has to listen to him.So far, so mundane, so thank heavens for Reeves, who honestly puts in an amazing performance as Griffin, the serial killer obsessed with perfecting his art by studying his victims for weeks.It's really against type for him, but this makes his character more intense, because he's literally so nice in every one of his previous films. He really is great as the antagonist.Other than that, it ticks all the boxes in a cat and mouse thriller, the killer is always one step ahead of Spader, and Spader gets that little more frustrated, maybe he is beginning to feel some psychotic tendencies.There is nothing new to offer in the thriller genre, but one film the film does is show that Reeves can put in a decent performance, especially when he plays against type.

Python Hyena The Watcher (2000): Dir: Joe Charloanic / Cast: Keanu Reeves, James Spader, Marisa Tomei, Ernie Hudson, Chris Ellis: Horror misfire about an evil presence prevailing over innocent victims. James Spader plays a cop who is haunted by the memory of his girlfriend's burning death. Analyzing the situation he finds her tied to a chair. He removes the tape from her mouth then pursues the suspect. While she burns to death I got to wondering why he didn't untie her while the going was good? He moves away and seeks therapy from Marisa Tomei whom we can guess will be his next rescue mission. Keanu Reeves is sighted as the killer so that viewers can avoid any surprises. He sends photos of his victims to Spader and allows him until nine-o-clock to locate them. One girl has her picture posted everywhere yet nobody notices her even when she walks amongst them. Lackluster directing by Joe Charloanic with drab production. Reeves is miscast and downright laughable as the villain. He is one of the most boring villains ever conjured up for a film. Spader is just as bad in a cardboard role of hero. Tomei spends her biggest scenes bound to a chair in a lame reference to the film's opening. Ernie Hudson also appears as well as Chris Ellis as a detective whose first clue should have been to find a better script than this. An exercise in exploitation and stupidity at its worst. Score: 1 / 10

rps-2 This dreadful film is one of the best examples available of Hollywood crap! In place of an intriguing plot, there is gee-whiz camera work. Instead of crisp dialogue, there are pointless shifts from positive images to negative colour. Instead of catchy drama, there is mindless and sensational violence and a head thumping soundtrack. Technically, it is well done. But then impressive high technology is not unique to movies. It's also used effectively in the processing of garbage, where this DVD most certainly will find its deserved fate. I bought the DVD at a garage sale. Better had I spent my one (Canadian) dollar on the leaky ballpoint pen or the scratched up Mitch Miller LP.

Bjorn (ODDBear) 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 short; Reeves feels that Spader needs him. And that's something Reeves likes very much. 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. He has some very bad lines to work with as well. It just looks like he didn't strain himself too much. Fortunately Spader is terrific. His character is a bit eccentric and Spader practically has a PHD in eccentric characters and he easily walks off with the film. Tomei, an excellent actress, is neither here nor there as a psychiatrist.To the film's credit though; it's fast paced, has a great chase scene halfway through and manages to build a reasonable amount of tension at times. "The Watcher" is a decent enough time filler on a slow night. Just don't expect something great; apart from a stellar performance by the reliable James Spader.