Today’s quick review: The Watcher. After a traumatic run-in with a serial killer, FBI agent Joel Campbell (James Spader) quits his job, moves across the country, and tries to work through his problems with the help of psychiatrist Polly Beilman (Marisa Tomei). But Campbell’s worst fears are realized when the killer, David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves), follows him to Chicago and begins killing young women to get his attention.
The Watcher is an action thriller about a burnt-out FBI agent and the serial killer obsessed with him. When Griffin starts sending Campbell photos of his next victims, Campbell must overcome his trauma to beat Griffin at his own game. This setup gives The Watcher a decent plot as Campbell and Chicago police work to identify each victim before it’s too late. However, it misses the chance to make more of its premise, instead focusing too much on action.
As a thriller, The Watcher doesn’t bring anything special to the table. Griffin makes for a mediocre villain who’s at his most threatening when he’s stalking women and at his least threatening when he’s trying to get inside Campbell’s head. Campbell is a fine protagonist but has poor chemistry with Griffin. To top it off, the movie’s gratuitous action and overblown directorial style get in the way of what would otherwise be a dark, menacing story.
The Watcher is outclassed both as an action movie and as a crime thriller. Its action sequences are merely passable, its plot isn’t brilliant, and its characters are not as compelling as they could have been. But for all of that, The Watcher delivers some decent thrills without asking too much from its audience. Give it a shot when you’re in the mood for a race against time that’s not too bleak. Skip it if you’re looking for something more memorable.
For a more action-oriented thriller with Keanu Reeves as the hero, try Speed. For a more twisted thriller about a serial killer with a personal attachment to an investigator, try Se7en, The Bone Collector, or Hangman. For a smarter cat-and-mouse thriller, try Law Abiding Citizen.
5.3 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 for decent plot without the vision to take its premise farther.