The Watch

Starring;

Ben Stiller
Vince Vaughn
Jonah Hill
Richard Ayoade

Director;

Akiva Schaffer

In three words; Predictable - Poor - Shame

Plot;

After an unexplained murder in his quite town Evan (Syiller) decides to form a neighbourhood watch. After a poor turnout he is forced to work with a motley crew to keep the neighbourhood safe. However, things take a turn when they realise that they are up against an alien invasion.

Review;

I can’t help but notice that it’s been a long time since Ben Stiller made me laugh. Last year I was looking forward to him teaming up with Eddie Murphy in Tower Heist, the less said about that debacle the better. I guess 2008’s Tropic Thunder was the last time he was in a decent film with lots of laughs. However, I was still looking forward to The Watch with Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and our very own Richard Ayoade I felt this was a strong cast which had the potential to deliver a fun and, most importantly, funny film. However, the script is badly put together and the laughs are few and far between.

Stiller, Vaughn and Hill are somewhat typecast and bring nothing original to the film. Whilst Ayoade is a breath of fresh air in this Hollywood boys club he is underused and given less screen time then the rest. He is the Winston Zeddemore to the Venkman, Stanz and Spengler show. Whilst The Watch has parallels to the great and fantastic Ghostbusters they are a million miles apart in originality and quality.

Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg were brought in to rewrite Jared Stern’s screenplay to make it more appealing for the older teenage market. Essentially they appear to have added in a few fucks, shits and a number of seminal fluid jokes. Given the rewrite I felt that the film was a little lost, it was trying to be R-rated yet it felt move of a family viewing flick. Ultimately the film fails to find its place and is now added to the growing list of poor Stiller movies.

I’m not Stiller bashing here, I just really like him and want to see him in better quality movies. He hasn’t reached the lows of Adam Sadler yet so there is hope. Also Vaughn and Hill shouldn’t get off lightly. They brought nothing exciting to the table, I felt that there was little to no rehearsal time which gave the impression that the actors turned up on set and just winged it.

The film is directed by SNL’s Akiva Schaffer, a man with only one film under his belt. His 2007 effort Hot Rod came and went without registering on anyones radar. Perhaps with a stronger more seasoned director The Watch could have been pulled together and perhaps the script issues could have been reviewed and sorted out. Whilst there are a few laughs here and there The Watch does not stand up well and will be forgotten about soon enough. At least The ‘Burbs which has a similar feel, has longevity and is ultimately a better suburbanite flick.

Verdict;

2 out of 5.