Keanu Reeves turns up the heat as a stone cold serial killer playing a sadistic game of cat and mouse with a burnt-out FBI agent (James Spader). This action-packed thriller zooms along against a wild backdrop of twisted st... more »reets, screaming sirens and pure adrenaline!« less
A bit of a let down and did not show Keanu Reeves greatness with certain movies! Skip it!
Jean W. from JORDANVILLE, NY Reviewed on 8/21/2011...
great cast and a story with a good twist. Worth watching
1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Sarah F. (keanupattinson) from INDIANAPOLIS, IN Reviewed on 7/8/2009...
I really liked Keanu Reeves in this movie, who wouldn't like Keanu as a serial killer?
2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Liz F. (monkeygirl) from INDIANAPOLIS, IN Reviewed on 6/4/2009...
Loved everything about this movie. Actors. Music. Plot.
It is a great little thriller for such wonderful cast!
Keanu Reeves and James Spader work well together!
2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Gail S. (Bella44) from MEDINA, OH Reviewed on 1/12/2008...
I really liked this one. Keanu Reeves gave a stellar performance as a psychopath! Interesting twists and turns.
4 of 5 member(s) found this review helpful.
Movie Reviews
Keanu and Spader, Perfect together!
Jason Ostrowski | Morristown, NJ USA | 03/07/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"There are two reasons why you should buy this flick, excellent performances from Keanu Reeves and James Spader, and an awesome sound track! The relationship between Keanu and Spader are natural and convincing. I like Keanu in the "Bad Guy" role; he puts his laid-back style into the role and totally sells it. I've read some reviews that knock his performance here, I obviously don't agree! His laid back style is a breath of fresh air from the "off the wall, over energetic, borderline spastic" killers that we usually see in this kind of role. In fact, Keanu's demeanor makes the character even that much more spooky! That being said, I do agree that James Spader is the shinning star here. Spader, as the "burnt out" Cop on the verge of a stroke, is painful to watch (in a good way), Spader makes you feel the pain and stress that his character feels. Marisa Tomei does an ample job at playing her role, the fact that the role she portrays isn't really a factor until the end of the movie, she does the job of keeping the character at the level it was meant to be at. Yes this movie has been done before, a few times in fact, but the combination of Spader and Reeves gives it a new face. For my fellow Home Theater owners, this movie is fun to watch. There is great base and crisp highs; explosions will surely give your subs a workout! My only knock of this movie is the over use of (what is considered by today's standard) hip music. When the scene seems to call for suspenseful music, all of a sudden the rap/rock type of music starts (Stigmata had this same problem), but if you can look (or listen) past that, this is a great flick to watch and own."
All I can say is..wow
Victor Drysel | 09/18/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I saw this movie this weekend..wow...I don't think that I have been kept in awe from a movie for as long as I was...this movie was excellent..it wasn't quite as scary as I thought it was going to be, and despite all the bad ratings, I think its still worth going to see. Keanu Reeves does a great job playing the bad guy, something I didn't expect he would be good at. Its been years since I've seen James Spader in anything, and I thought his portrayal was wonderful. Marissa Tomei is a nice addition to the cast also. It wasn't what I would call a "nail biter"...but it was an excellent movie..."
An Interesting Piece of Film
Victor Drysel | TX | 03/03/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The main thing that made me want to see this movie was to see if Keanu Reeves could pull off the whole serial killer thing. I was impressed with his performance. Actually I was impressed with the whole thing. It was done tastefully and well. It was really nice to see James Spader finally in another movie. In my opinion, he's a very under-rated actor. The main plot line follows Spader's character. He's an ex FBI agent that before leaving was heading a major investigation looking for a serial killer named David Allen Griffin. Griffin (Reeves) is fixated on Spader and wants him back in the game. There's a lot of action, and some cool cinematic shots done that made the movie have a really interesting feel. I recommend this one to the people looking for some good entertainment."
Passable thriller; good for Reeves or Spader fans
Danno | NY, NY | 03/22/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
""The Watcher" looks and sounds like a made-for-cable-TV thriller about a stalker/serial killer. I was surprised to learn that it got a theatrical release, which I think accounts for its many poor reviews. This isn't a terrible film by any means. Instead, it's a time killer that fans of either James Spader or Keanu Reeves will probably get a kick out of and there's some lovely location footage of Chicago to boot.
Keanu Reeves plays a serial killer from James Spader's past. He tracks the former FBI agent down and starts killing young women again. This forces Spader to resume his career as an FBI agent; a decision that is fraught with drama because Spader is now burnt-out on police work and is virtually addicted to a variety of prescription drugs. There's nothing spectacularly intriguing or even novel about the film's premise or execution. But if you're a fan of Spader's TV work, you're going to like this one a lot, and it's fun to see Reeves play what is essentially an extended cameo cast against type. Marisa Tomei fans beware - the talented actress is almost totally wasted in a small, thankless role.
Great cinema? Hardly. But as a Spader fan, I enjoyed this one as a rental and think you will too."
Watch The Watcher (3.5 Stars)
Kevin | 08/28/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The Watcher has been in in my video store's DVD collection since it was released on DVD. My video store was robbed once, and that one had been rented before the robbing hence the copy was still there. Ever since it was released I had been meaning to rent it. The cover always looked at me and made me want to see it. But I always found myself saying "Meh, I'll rent it next time". I finally got around to it yesterday and I popped it into my DVD player and realized "I have no clue what this movie is about".
This movie is about a detective Joel Campbell who had been tracking a serial killer but never caught him. After several failures he decided to move to Chicago. The serial killer "missed" him in a sick and twisted way so he moved to Chicago as well to start his murders there. As he used to, he started sending pictures of his victims to Joel and that is where the fun begins.
I found that Keanu Reevs made an excellent villain. He was perfectly believable as a pathetic, scum bag killer. James Spade also did a great job. But this movie was lacking something. I guess it was lacking a lot of suspence. It had its tense moments here and there but nothing that made you gasp or jump out of your seat. Also one (very minor) problem I had was the Mitch character. He seemed like he hated Joel so much but his hatred quickly disapeared. This movie was still intriguing enough and kept me entertained! Id' recommed watching the Watcher!"