![]() It's a terrific foil for Reeves's devil-may-care joy. Spader plays Campbell straight and haunted. It's also this formula that makes his chemistry with James Spader crackle. We grow wary of the dark things lurking behind that sparkling glare. Every gesture, topped by that toothy smile, becomes deftly off-putting, making us squirm in our seats. He dances with his victims, cracks disarming jokes. The charming wink in his eye becomes gravely unsettling, his careless manner juxtaposing his horrible deeds to great effect. But here, that's exactly what makes his character work. The critics were turned off watching Ted "Theodore" Logan murder people, complaining about his California idiot grin and cavalier attitude. But most of all, people wanted to see if Keanu Reeves could pull off his role of a killer. ![]() Maybe others for Spader's intense performance. Some perhaps due to Ayers and Elliot's suspenseful script. Audiences obviously went to see the film. But despite the troubled production and less-than-stellar reviews, The Watcher managed a decent financial success, bringing in $47 million worldwide against a $30 million budget. According to Hollywood lore, Reeves' signature was forged on the contract by his assistant and, not wanting to participate in a huge legal battle, he simply agreed to do the part. Reeves gave Charbanic his verbal agreement to do the film, but changed his mind after discovering he would be paid scale even though screenwriters Clay Ayers and David Elliot greatly expanded his part. Suffering an 11% on the Tomatometer and receiving only two out of four stars from Roger Ebert, The Watcher was a critical flop when it premiered in September 2000, called a "paint-by-numbers serial killer thriller" that suffered from "ill casting choices" and a first-time director (Joe Charbanic was good friend of Reeves, known for filming his band Dogstar on tour). Whether Campbell wants to actually survive the game or not remains to be seen. However, it isn't long before Polly herself is drawn into the game, becoming a target and drawing Griffin and Campbell towards a violent showdown that may see only one of them surviving. The two work together, studying each photograph for clues that will help them locate Griffin's victims in time. Recognizing Campbell's wealth of knowledge, Detective Hollis ( Chris Ellis) brings Campbell back into the hunt. But soon Joe finds himself coming back to life when he starts receiving phone calls from Griffin, who has followed him to Chicago in order to play a deadly new game: he will send Campbell photos of his potential victims and give the former Fed 24 hours to find them before he murders them. While seeing a therapist named Polly ( Marisa Tomei), Campbell finds himself lost and barely able to function, living alone with his regret and pumping migraine medication directly into his stomach just to function from day to day. The Watcher follows former FBI agent Campbell ( James Spader), who has just moved to Chicago to escape the death of his lover due to his inability to capture serial strangler, David Allen Griffin (Reeves). Many examples of these phenomena exist, but very few beat the creeping calm of Keanu Reeves in Joe Charbanic's 2000 horror thriller The Watcher. By dipping their toes into uncharted territory, they show us their true talent, their range of emotions. Playing against type is one of the greatest tools an actor possesses. From time to time, however, certain villainous characters are lifted to an even higher cinematic level: namely, when said character is played by an actor you'd least expect. Whether a hulking murderer in a hockey mask or a stoic demon with a face full of pins, we can't help but smile when they show up, usually accompanied by a few well-placed shadows or a sharp musical sting. The bad guys are the ones we really want to see - killing, maiming, and destroying with reckless abandon, all in the name of some evil, dastardly plan. A story is only as good as its villain, an idea that still resonates just as strongly today. Sure, everybody loves a flashy do gooder, but let's be honest: the ones they battle are always more interesting. Larger-than-life men and women out there battling for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Drama comes from conflict, and conflict produces heroes. They give us beauty, laughs, sadness, thrills, snappy dialogue, and above all else, a great escape from the real world.
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