The Watcher
The Watcher | |
| Director: | Joe Charbanic |
| Cast: | Keanu Reeves, James Spader |
| Genre: | Film, Suspense, Murder |
Smack-dab in the middle of a tense manhunt, The Watcher stops the action, so as to allow characters to shout things along the lines of, "He's at Seattle's Finest Coffee!" "Which Seattle's Finest?" And, even more memorably, "I want you to go to every Seattle's Finest!" (This after a pornographically explicit opening symphony of Kodak product plugs.) Not content with being merely contemptuous of its audience, The Watcher is also unflaggingly idiotic. James Spader plays Campbell, a burned-out private investigator who moves to Chicago because, apparently, he's tired of being burned out in Los Angeles. Keanu Reeves plays Griffin, a megasmart serial killer. In between occasional girl-slaughter scenes, Campbell and Griffin match wits. Spader's performance betrays an actor who knows quite well that he's trapped in flashy Seven knockoff--a film that believes having Keanu Reeves play a fearsomely brilliant murderer is a viable idea. And Spader looks suitably dyspeptic throughout.