Year:
2000
Studio:
Universal Pictures/Interlight
Movie:
3/5
DVD:
0/5
The Watcher is a sort of detective/suspense movie starring James Spader
and Keanu Reeves (in a somewhat less usual role of the bad guy). Spader
plays Joel Campbell, a shell of a detective who moved to Chicago after
he failed to apprehend Los Angeles serial murderer David Allen Griffin
(Reeves). Joel is one messed up person racked with guilt becausee David
murdered Joel's lover and Joel could have saved her. Joel is seeing a
psychiatrist, Dr Polly Bellman (Marisa Tomei) who seems to have a
rather unprofessional attraction to Joel.
In any case, after being bored in Los Angeles, David decides that he
really needs the challenge that Joel provides. So David tracks Joel
down to Chicago and starts murdering women, though he's good enough to
change his MO in the Windy City. Basically he sends Joel a photograph
and gives him 24 hours to find the unknown girl before she is brutally
murdered. Joel of course goes to the police and gets their help, but
it's still tough to find one person in a city of millions.
The new challenges force Joel to put himself back together. We get a
bit more of the psychology of both characters. And then a final
showdown when David finds out about Polly and takes her as his next
victim. All in all it's not a special film but it does offer a couple
of hours of entertainment. Unfortunately, there are no special features
on the DVD.
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What did I
like? Mystery suspense genre. What did I not like? The ending was a bit
anticlimatic. It just seemed to be over a bit too quickly and easily.
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