The Watch is a
textbook case of bad timing. Originally titled Neighborhood Watch, Fox renamed the film following the killing of
Trayvon Martin and changed the ad campaign to emphasize the sci-fi elements.
However, The Watch was released a
week after the shootings in Aurora and the country hardly seemed ready to laugh
at a quartet of overzealous, gun-toting vigilantes. The shadow of the bat was
also looming large. Those who weren't skittish preferred to see The Dark Knight Rises and The Watch pulled in a paltry $12.7
million opening weekend.
Just as he did in Tower Heist, Ben Stiller is the earnest straight man to a gaggle of wacky
characters. He plays Evan Trautwig, the manager of a Costco located in the
small town of Glenview, Ohio. Evan is an active member of the community,
volunteering at the retirement home and founding numerous groups like the running
club. His latest venture is a neighborhood watch, which is formed after the
murder of the store's security guard. At the first meeting, Evan is joined by
Bob (Vince Vaughn), Franklin (Jonah Hill), and Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade). Bob
is searching for some male camaraderie. He's more interested in shooting pool
and drinking beers than solving crimes. Franklin is the watch's hothead,
perpetually angry and bitter that he was rejected by the local police force.
Jamarcus is a laidback eccentric fantasizing about a salacious rendezvous with
an Asian housewife. The newly formed quartet have more to worry about than
skateboard riding punks when they uncover an alien invasion in their midst.
The Watch was
directed by Akiva Schaffer, best known for helming Hot Rod and many of the SNL Digital Shorts. He and his Lonely
Island cohorts, Jorma Toccone and Andy Samberg, have quick cameos. The script
was written by Jared Stern, whose previous credits include Bolt, The Princess and the
Frog, and Mr. Popper's Penguins,
and intended as a PG picture. The story was rewritten by Seth Rogen & Evan
Goldberg, who took on a more decidedly R-rated approach. As such, The Watch simultaneously lampoons and
celebrates regressive male behavior. Each of the main protagonists has been
emasculated in their own way. Evan has been unable to impregnate his wife, Abby
(Rosemarie DeWitt), while Bob is the father to a wild teenage daughter (Erin
Moriarty). He is the classic stereotype of the controlling, overprotective dad.
Bob hacks her Facebook account and his stalker behavior is validated when his
suspicions about her jock boyfriend turn out to be true. Franklin is a junior
league Travis Bickle, full of rage and similar to Rogen's character in Observe & Report. He's always armed
with a butterfly knife and keeps a stockade of guns in his bedroom at his mom's
house. Franklin becomes the unlikely savior of the movie as it climaxes into a
two-fisted, John Woo slow-mo bullet ballet.
The humor is purely juvenile revolving around genitalia and
homosexuality. The lead actors don't give performances we haven't seen in any of
their other films. We do get a livelier Vince Vaughn than previously seen. Only
Vaughn could milk so much humor over a Russian nesting doll. Also funny, Will
Forte as an obtuse police officer and an uncredited Billy Crudup as Evan's creepy
neighbor. The real revelation of The
Watch is the least known face adorning the theatrical posters. Richard
Ayoade might be known to fans of British television for his roles on The IT Crowd or Garth Marenghi's Darkplace or even his directorial work on Submarine. He's relatively unknown
stateside and if there's any justice, he'll get bigger and better parts. Ayoade
provides a unique deadpan sense of humor that elevates all of his scenes.
It is obvious The
Watch desperately wants to fill the same position that Ghostbusters occupies in the pop culture pantheon. As an
action-comedy, The Watch is too
pedestrian on both fronts to be anything memorable. Check out Attack the Block instead.
Rating: ** (*****)
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