The Watcher (2000/I)

Director:

Joe Charbanic

Writers (WGA):

Darcy Meyers (story) and
David Elliot (story) ...

Release Date:

8 September 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Don't go home alone.

Plot:

David Allen Griffin is a cool killer- time and time again, he chooses a female victim, studies her for...

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Stalking By Night | Fast Motion Sequence | Police Chase | Cemetery

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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)
Jill Peterson	...	Jessica (as Jillian Peterson)
Michele DiMaso	...	Rachel (as Michelle Dimaso)
Andrew Rothenberg	...	Jack Fray
David Pasquesi	...	Norton

Also Known As:

Driven (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Interlight

Trivia:

Universal reportedly paid $5 million to acquire the North American distribution rights of this movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end of the police chase when Griffin hits the gas pumps, gas is spraying like rain. He then lights it and it blows up. From a long shot we see fire, but then we go back to a shot of his car reversing and it is still raining gas.

Quotes:

[Joel surrenders his gun to David in the cemetery - they begin to walk and David has the gun pointing downwards - a loud bang is heard]
David Allen Griffin: Wow. It's loaded.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Not Another Teen Movie (2001)

Soundtrack:

DRAGULA

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.