The Watcher (I) (2000)

David Allen Griffin is a cool killer- time and time again, he chooses a female victim, studies her for weeks till he knows her routine to the smallest detail, makes meticulous preparations ... See full summary »

Director:

Joe Charbanic

Writers:

Darcy Meyers (story), David Elliot (story),

Stars:

James Spader, Keanu Reeves, Marisa Tomei

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Spader	...	Campbell
Marisa Tomei	...	Polly
Keanu Reeves	...	Griffin
Ernie Hudson	...	Ibby
Chris Ellis	...	Hollis
Robert Cicchini	...	Mitch
Yvonne Niami	...	Lisa
Jenny McShane	...	Diana (as Jennifer McShane)
Gina Alexander	...	Sharon
Rebekah Louise Smith	...	Ellie (as Rebakah Louise Smith)
Joseph Sikora	...	Skater (as Joe Sikora)
Jillian Peterson	...	Jessica
Michele DiMaso	...	Rachel (as Michelle Dimaso)
Andrew Rothenberg	...	Jack Fray
David Pasquesi	...	Norton

Storyline

David Allen Griffin is a cool killer- time and time again, he chooses a female victim, studies her for weeks till he knows her routine to the smallest detail, makes meticulous preparations using his forensic knowledge to gain entry when she's quite alone, subdues her and administers a long, torturous death. Joel Campbell got so frustrated by his failure to capture Griffin in LA that he quit the FBI, moved to Chicago and remains in psychiatric therapy, unable to function normally. Then he realizes, when opening his mail very late, that a new murder victim is Griffin's, and the killer send him pictures of her. Campbell reports this to the police, but is unwilling to join them in the search, suggesting Griffin is too slick and clever; yet he won't get out of it that easily...

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | murder | fbi | therapy | playing against type | 

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Taglines:

Don't go home alone.

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Genres:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

The Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Vietnamese

Release Date:

8 September 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Regard dangereux

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$33,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£470,787 (UK) (9 March 2001)

Gross:

ESP 244,682,968 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lewitt / Eberts Prouctions, Choi / Niami Prouctions, Driven Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During production, the film was called "Driven", but Universal decided to change the title to "The Watcher" when the Stallone racing drama with the same name was announced.

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Goofs

When Griffin pulls away from the curb in the blue car, there is clearly no license plate but in the next shot there is a plate there.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Joel Campbell: It's never quite that easy. You go through the door, they're never just sitting there waiting for you with a welcoming smile on their face. Best you can do is hope they fuck up and do what you can to be there when they do.
Joel Campbell: Time's up.

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Half Past Dead 2 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Driven To This
Written by Damir Price (as Damir Prcic)
Performed by Jacqui Lynn
Produced by Marco Beltrami, Damir Price (as Damir Prcic)
Courtesy of Mouthful Records

User Reviews

Believably tragic characters without over-the-top performances.

I didn't expect to like this movie as much as I did. The plot was written in a way to make the characters very believable and real. Spader plays a tragic hero that needs the bad guy (under-played to perfection by Reeves) to come back into his life in order to find closure with his past and come to terms with the present. Neither Spader nor Reeves played to stereotypes common to this genre, and as a result, their performances were gritty and powerful without coming across as over-the-top. Stereotyped performances are a common weakness in many other similar movies, which are also good movies, but they rely on star performances from their marquee actors. This becomes a troublesome thing when the acting tends to define the movie and hides weaknesses and implausibility within the script. Recent examples of this are seen in The Bone Collector, Copycat, and Kiss The Girls. I liked each of these movies for different reasons, but The Watcher was more real to me because the actors weren't playing a type. Spader showed a reluctant vulnerability and a controlled intensity that was very true-to-life in my experience. And Reeves was so spooky as the serial killer because he tried to show a small sliver of his Evil each time without ever overdoing it. Another great surprise was Tomei, who came out of semi-retirement to also give us a dead-on performance as Spader's psychiatrist. She, too, acted emotionally in a way that filled the role without ever becoming a movie stereotype. Visually, her hair, make-up, and clothes helped downplay her character and allowed her to become just another real person who arbitrarily became involved in things. I think this was a great choice for her.