The Watcher (2000)

10% of critics liked it
(88 reviews)
35% of users liked it
(20,942 ratings)

A detective is urged on by the lunatic he's trying to put behind bars in this crime thriller. Joel Campbell (James Spader) is a police detective who has recently relocated to Chicago after spending eight frustrating years trying to track down a vicious serial killer who has been terrorizing Los… More A detective is urged on by the lunatic he's trying to put behind bars in this crime thriller. Joel Campbell (James Spader) is a police detective who has recently relocated to Chicago after spending eight frustrating years trying to track down a vicious serial killer who has been terrorizing Los Angeles. However, the slayer, David Allen Griffin (Keanu Reeves), doesn't want the game of cat and mouse to end; even though he previously put his murderous activities on hold, Griffin has started murdering young women again -- and is sending clues to Campbell, mailing him photos of his intended victims and urging Campbell to save them while he still can. Also starring Marisa Tomei, Ernie Hudson, and Chris Ellis, The Watcher was directed by Joe Charbanic. It marked Charbanic's first feature project after directing videos for a number of alternative rock groups, including Soul Coughing, Sonic Youth, and Reeves' band, Dogstar. The film was produced under the title Driven. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: Joe Charbanic
Written By: Clay Ayers, Joe Charbanic, David Elliott, Darcy Meyers
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Sep 8, 2000 Wide
On DVD: Sep 2, 2003
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
You can't buy Keanu as a sadist, but you do worry about the guys who wrote the screenplay.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Is neither slick, clever nor especially thrilling.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Reeves, as the killer, has the fairly thankless task of saying only what the movie needs him to say; he's limited by the fact that his killer has no real dimension or personality apart from his function as a plot device.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
The Watcher is thoroughly European, a nice find.
Jay Carr, Boston Globe
To borrow a phrase from another Chicagoan, John Belushi, The Watcher is a 'but nooooo' movie.
Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He likes to watch, but you might not.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Tired plot and disastrous casting.
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
If I never see another scene in which a woman is bound and gagged, while her killer struts around the room basking in his own psychotic cleverness, I won't mind a bit.
Prairie Miller, Long Island Press
The scenario involving a seductive predator obsessed with female loners is not coherent enough to seduce an audience.
John Venable, Supercala.com
Not half bad as a rental.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
Nasty, sadistic, ugly and pointless.
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
One of the lamest serial killer thrillers of the post-Silence of the Lambs era.
Christopher Tookey, Daily Mail [UK]
Dreadful performances, scanty motivation and excruciating dialogue.
Ron Wells, Film Threat
The script sucks, the directing sucks, and, as much as I do like him, Keanu sucks.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

♥˩ƳИИ &

Cast: James Spader, Keanu Reeves, Marisa Tomei, Ernie Hudson, Chris Ellis, Robert Cicchini, Jenny McShane, Rich Komenich Director: Joe Charbanic, Jeff Jensen Summary: Burned out after failing to bust a sadistic serial killer in Los Angeles, FBI agent Joel Campbell (James Spader)… More
Cast: James Spader, Keanu Reeves, Marisa Tomei, Ernie Hudson, Chris Ellis, Robert Cicchini, Jenny McShane, Rich Komenich Director: Joe Charbanic, Jeff Jensen Summary: Burned out after failing to bust a sadistic serial killer in Los Angeles, FBI agent Joel Campbell (James Spader) retires to Chicago. But the killer (Keanu Reeves) refuses to leave the lawman alone, and begins furnishing new clues designed to drive him mad. To motivate Campbell to rejoin the cat-and-mouse chase, the killer sends photos of his next victims. But it's up to Campbell to try to save them first. My Thoughts: "I liked it. Thought it was a good thriller. It's just you see so many movies about serial killers they all start looking the same. But I enjoyed Keanu Reeves playing the bad guy. Love him, Spader and Tomei. They were my reasons for watching this flick. They all did a great job. The movie is never slow, and it keeps you interested all the way through. Good rental."
Dean M

Tense, twisting plot, great ending. The relationship between the characters in this crime drama sets it apart from other serial killer movies. In fact, I would have like another 15 minutes in the movie to bring out these relationship even more. I would have like a little more… More
Tense, twisting plot, great ending. The relationship between the characters in this crime drama sets it apart from other serial killer movies. In fact, I would have like another 15 minutes in the movie to bring out these relationship even more. I would have like a little more elaboration on what happened in the past between James Spader and Keanu Reeves. Reeves plays as the serial killer is very well.
Dean !

An average thriller about a serial killer who taunts the FBI detective who has been on his case for the past few years. Watchable, but pretty straight forward compared to most thrillers.
Leigh R

I love bad Keanu. :)
Luke B

According to reports of Keanu never wanting to do this film it comes as no surprise his performance is more vacant and uninteresting than usual. Spader has a few moments to shine but a lot of the film moves very quickly and then stops suddenly. We are treated to a repetitous plot as… More
According to reports of Keanu never wanting to do this film it comes as no surprise his performance is more vacant and uninteresting than usual. Spader has a few moments to shine but a lot of the film moves very quickly and then stops suddenly. We are treated to a repetitous plot as not 1 but 2 girls are hunted, one straight after the other. It adds to nothing as in the end Keanu just presents himself. Not in the shocking Se&en type way, just casually. Ther eis a lot of talk about the Ying and Yang, cop not being able to live without the villain and vice versa but it's hidden under a turd of a film. The useless stylistic choices for flashbacks and so forth also distract rather than capture the imagination. Not dark, not interesting and quite frankly it wouldn't of mattered to me who had died, lived, won or lost.
Tsubaki S

Another stinker i watched thanks to some friends. Probably the laziest performances i have seen in my life. Yes, Keanu is even duller here from what he usually is.
Nate Z

[font=Arial][color=darkred]'The Watcher' doesn't do much, if realistically anything important, but it does prove that Keanu Reeves is more cardboard than cut-out. Reeves plays a serial killer with no distinct edge or angle, in fact he'd be more of a stalking man… More
[font=Arial][color=darkred]'The Watcher' doesn't do much, if realistically anything important, but it does prove that Keanu Reeves is more cardboard than cut-out. Reeves plays a serial killer with no distinct edge or angle, in fact he'd be more of a stalking man child if he just didn't kill his victims in the end. Anyway, the plot is a rehash of other serial killer vehicals; James Spader has a limited time to rescue a victim, he's haunted by the ones he's failed, Keanu is a killer with too much free time to overly plan elaborate set-ups etc.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The film's shattering pillar is personified in Keanu. Keanu may be the goofiest serial killer in all of western civilization. Every twitch, dumbfounded stare of aloofness, or one-toned droning moronic voice only add to the feelings of Keanu as a wanderingly lost special needs student and not as someone dangerous. Maybe this was the desired effect but I doubt it.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]A more interesting prospect arouses when you consider what the movie could've been had the male leads switched characters. As it stands, 'The Watcher' is a lifeless and tired strain of an experience. One, I might add, that allows Keanu to light entire rooms with dainty candles with his added spare time.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: D+ [/color][/font]
C.R. L

This film is unique in it's approach towards the serial killer story. Does it draw you in? Yes it does. Does it give you a dark, foreboding and sinister story? Oh you bet it does! The Watcher is an extremely entertaining if not almost borderline on brilliant film making on a… More
This film is unique in it's approach towards the serial killer story. Does it draw you in? Yes it does. Does it give you a dark, foreboding and sinister story? Oh you bet it does! The Watcher is an extremely entertaining if not almost borderline on brilliant film making on a rare and unique scale. This film embodies a certain flare and style that you have to be open minded and somewhat of a serial Killer thriller lover to really appreciate this film style and grandeur of it to see the murky and dark brilliance that lays beneath it all. This movie is not a particularly mind blowing SK thriller but it does have it's moments that it really jumps out at you and there are a few moments in the movie that you just jump in fright and that's when you know your watching a good thriller. Keanu( Who I thought was good in this as the SK but not quite good enough.) turns in a rather impressive performance as David Alan Griffin a man who lives to kill, a man who thrives on taking away another' s life. A man who lurks in the shadows and watches you and admires you like a cat before he kills a mouse Keanu's serial killer was ingenious in his planning and his methods were very smart and clean but what lacked here was the fact that none of his victim's had an adverse affect on the story, that was the only let down but besides that it was interesting to watch him work. James Spader plays a very convincing cop in this film, but not to convincing there are some scenes where you see almost no emotion or empathy for the victims of Griffin at all but that is easy to put to the side what redeems Spader in this film is his relentless chase of Griffin and his iron determination to bring him down. That's what saves Spader and that's what makes it fun to watch him work. Marisa Tomei this film could have done with out she really lowered the standards with her bland and very bad performance as the compassionate Psychiatrist( I mean she won an oscar for crying out loud!! She can do better than than this!) she really made it almost a drag to see her on screen (but hey at least she's nice to look at.) all in all she was the main weak point in this film not Keanu. When you over look the main outer layers of the story and get dug and see the inner layers you can fully comprehend and see the near greatness of this film and the great style it brings to the the thriller genre all in all The Watcher delivers great edge of your seat, blow out the lights entertainment you can't over look. Basically this film flat out rocks.
Dimitris S

Hollywood crap-festo with yet another lukewarm serial-killer,by Jove,women are his target!!!Spader is doing his best,alas..the wills of nature cry out loud..: stop harassing the police/horror genre!!!!
deb .

Interesting plot but it could have been a lot more thrilling.
Leo L

Interesting.