TonyMontana96 (Originally reviewed: The fatal flaw with Joe Charbanic's The Watcher is the miscasting of Keanu Reeves as the killer. Considering the word of mouth, I was expecting a dreadful slasher films, what I got instead was a poor, laughable film. James Spader plays the lead character, it takes a while for the story to tell us he's a detective and why he's taking all these medications but it does eventually get to it. Reeves is the psychopathic killer and an ineffective one at that, his prancing around, unthreatening expressions and constantly wanting to dance like a fairy make him one of the most laughable serial killer's I've ever seen, though not entirely Reeves fault, simply miscasting by the director. The adorable Marisa Tomei also stars as a psychiatrist and turns in a good performance as usual. Though the plot falters a lot, and is overall poor, I have seen a lot worse films like this and a lot better.On to some things that bothered me such as the female characters mostly being void of common sense, for example why would a woman at work think it's not unusual for some guy to randomly start photographing her in an environment that just so happens to be mostly empty. Insensitive dialogue also follows later on with "apparently she has a cat named frank who doesn't watch the news" after the second victim is killed, that line is said by Spader's character and it's not funny, and said in bad taste. Another lame piece of dialogue appears later on where Reeve's says "were Yin and Yang" to spader which is fairly funny (Unintentionally) but only further diminishes the picture on being taken seriously. The biggest surprise comes towards the end, when Reeves is about to strangle his last victim, only for Spader who's being held at gunpoint to randomly say Thank you for no reason and Reeves stops strangling her and puts his head near Spader who stabs him somewhere in the arm, (unclear directing) and the building then ends up on fire, and so on, you can probably guess what happens next. I almost forgot to mention the messy opening credit's which were all over the place. Overall though, this picture is badly directed, laughable at times and suffers fatally from Keanu Reeves's unmenacing, dancing ballerina portrayal of a serial killer.

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

LeonLouisRicci The inevitable influence of MTV and Music Videos on Mainstream Movies is glaringly evident in this hyper-kinetic Serial Killer Film that is nothing if an attempt to stimulate the synapses with razzle-dazzle beyond belief.A Casting reversal is haunting as things unfold in this almost average presentation of pomp and circumstance that is inconsistent and at times, especially in the end, incoherent. Spader would have been a better choice as the charming Serial Killer and Reeves would have been more at home with his limited Acting chops as the Detective.It is not bad but nothing memorable. How many of those dated Music Videos from MTV's Golden Age are lingering in the Mind. So here it is, a Video influenced Movie with little depth of field, bright and shiny, Whizzy and Bangy, images separating and splintering, with light trails everywhere. But in the end it just goes Poof, gone like a smoke ring.

elshikh4 Back when this movie was released, I read someone who wrote this : "If my cat ate bad dinner, then vomited it, her vomit would be better than The Watcher" ! Well, when I had the opportunity to watch it, I knew that it isn't that ugly after all.It's the fashion at the moment : the thrilling hunt for that smart, energetic, and completely crazy serial killer. After 9 years of it, (The Silence of the Lambs) was still swaying. Most of its following had nothing more than the dark atmosphere and the action. However this time, and a la the original, the relationship between the officer and the criminal produces a meaning. The movie points out sadly to the fact that people became too many and too busy to look to each others, so love became hard to find, consequently life became out of sense. It's distinct to have a movie of that kind while being not "out of sense" itself.I hated slight points like that FBI agent who dislikes the returning James Spader. That line didn't affect anything later, so why to make it in the first place ?! Then, the coincidence of being, out of all places, in the same mall which one of the victims works at. But, whatever. That wasn't the problem. The problems though were else where.Let's declare the always concealed, or twisted, or not spoken about much truth : Keanu Reeves doesn't know how to act. He acted in one movie, ironically one of his first, (Speed – 1994). Strangely later, and in a precedent, he turned into worse actor, and worse, and worse as he aged !Supposedly Reeves acts as the evil nuts while being terrifyingly frozen. Ultimately he just did nothing but reading his lines with dead puffed up face, managing to be terrifyingly frozen, yet as an actor ! At one point I said to myself "he doesn't have to slaughter the girls. All what he has to do is acting, or dancing, for them a little !". I deem the scene of his crazy dancing as one of the silliest images ever captured on film at all. No kidding ! Then, the director : Joe Charbanic. I don't know the guy, but according to the way he handled everything I believe he is, or has a passion to be, one of the masters of the V movies' crap. Nothing was tense about the movie. At the first phone call between the lead and its antagonist, see how he films Reeves from 2 angles with still cadres and dull cutting. The acting assures that he doesn't know a lot about acting. And the damn special effect, which he used while the actors' running, made them like idiots chasing each other in a comic silent movie from the 1920s. I couldn't stop laughing in front of that. Here's the cat's vomit. Truly, pedantry is evil !Spader did it good. But he doesn't have the charismatic glow. Despite the shortness and the usualness of her role, Marisa Tomei could be memorable due to her so expressive tearful eyes. Some of the soundtrack's rock songs did soothe the atmosphere or stir it up. I loved the one played during the search for a victim. Its lyrics harmonized with the somewhat deep sad core, embodying – even swiftly – the movie's case of desolate cities, and state, we live. As a script it's nice. It has thrill and good meaning to it, and that's rare if you ask me. As a movie it is not that nice. Wanna know why, then ask yourself why our dear director had to picture everything Reeves sees in the psychological doctor's clinic like it's an electronic image seen from The Terminator's point of view ?! Albeit Reeves as a robot sucks too ! I think that moment summarizes the answer to my question and the whole movie.As you see, (The Watcher) has 2 killers, not one !