The Watch Review

Rated R (Some Strong Sexual Content including References, Pervasive Language and Violent Images)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 42 Minutes

Cast-

Ben Stiller-Evan Trautwig

Vince Vaughn-Bob Finnerty

Jonah Hill-Franklin

Richard Ayoade-Jamarcus

Rosemarie DeWitt-Abby Trautwig

Will Forte-Sergeant Bressman

Erin Moriarty-Chelsea

Mel Rodriguez-Chucho

Nicholas Braun-Jason

R. Lee Ermey-Manfred

Joe Nunez-Antonio Guzman

Doug Jones-Hero Alien

Billy Crudup-Creepy Neighbor (uncredited)

Directed by Akiva Schaffer

Alien invasion about to take place? Just call the neighborhood watch to handle it for you!

On his Tumblr, actor Wil Wheaton posted the following: 'Only in America would there be a massacre in a movie theater followed by a national discussion not about assault weapons and extended magazines, but about violent movies and whether or not people should be allowed to wear costumes when they watch them.' Last Friday's tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, where a lone gunman wearing full-body protective gear burst through the emergency exit at a Century 16 movie theater during a midnight screening of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" and opened fire on the audience using multiple weapons provoked a flurry of reactions but many of them have been for all the wrong reasons. Instead of focusing on stricter gun control, some have put the blame on Hollywood, with Warner Brothers taking the drastic measure of delaying the release of Ruben Fleischer's late-1940s crime drama "Gangster Squad" to early next year due to a climactic scene where the main characters engage in a mass shooting at Grauman's Chinese Theatre using Thompson submachine guns. This scene will either be removed or be placed in a different setting, necessitating re-shoots to accommodate these changes. No one will dispute that what happened in Aurora, Colorado was terrible but to sacrifice a film's integrity just because some people might be offended sets a dangerous precedent because it begs the question: Where do you draw the line between art and censorship? In a similar but unrelated matter, 20th Century Fox opted to rename its R-rated science fiction comedy "Neighborhood Watch" to the rather bland "The Watch" in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin back in late February by George Zimmerman, who was a neighborhood watch coordinator in Florida. With the exception of its marketing campaign and title, the film is being released unchanged and yes, a minority will complain of its tastelessness but regardless of the content in today's films, James Eagan Holmes was a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. As for "The Watch" itself, there are some laughs to be had thanks to the silly chemistry of its four leads but the film never utilizes its sci-fi premise to its full potential and it soon becomes clear that the comedy has nothing new to offer besides a barrage of repetitive sex jokes. 

Evan Trautwig (Ben Stiller) is a good-natured suburbanite living in a whitewashed neighborhood in Glenview, Ohio with his beautiful wife, Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt), who longs to have children and start a family. Desperate to make new friends, Evan often forms clubs around the community but when the night security guard at Costco, where he serves as senior manager, is found brutally murdered with his skin missing one morning, he immediately announces the creation of a neighborhood watch in order to catch the killer due to the incompetence of the local police, led by Sergeant Bressman (Will Forte) and his partner Chucho (Mel Rodriguez). However, his endeavor inspires little attention and only three people show up at the first meeting. Bob Finnerty (Vince Vaughn) is a blue-collar businessman working in construction who views the watch as an opportunity to take a break from his parental responsibilities in order to hang out in his man-cave with his new friends while Franklin (Jonah Hill) is a clearly disturbed individual who just wants a place to belong after being rejected from the police force. Finally, recent divorcee Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade) sees this as an excellent opportunity to get laid, with a particular fantasy involving a sexy Asian housewife. However, the quartet's nightly patrols bring them face-to-face with a close encounter of the third kind when they discover that Glenview is ground zero for an alien invasion! With the aliens being able to disguise themselves as anyone, the neighborhood watch find themselves in one ridiculous situation after another as they desperately try to prevent the destruction of their planet while dealing with their own personal problems. 

With the death of Trayvon Martin and the recent mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, "The Watch" couldn't have picked a worse release date but this is just a case of unfortunate timing and it is not fair for some reviewers to pan the film because of the aforementioned incidents. No, the fault lies with the lazy script from Jared Stern, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg. A mash-up of 1984's "Ghostbusters," 2011's "Attack the Block," with a dash of John Carpenter's "The Thing" from 1982, the film was originally a PG-13 endeavor under the direction of producer Shawn Levy but after close to four years in development hell, Rogen and Goldberg were hired to completely re-write Stern's script into an R-rated comedy. All they've down is lace the dialogue with a barrage of F-bombs and sex jokes involving semen and while there are some laughs to be had thanks to the comedic timing of its four leads, none of it is inspired and the constant sexual references end up feeling repetitive and tiresome. Another problem is that the film suffers from an identity crisis where the alien-invasion premise never entirely gels with its buddy movie angle. The subplots involving Evan struggling to tell his wife why they cannot have children (he's sterile) and Bob trying to rein in his rebellious teenage daughter Chelsea (Erin Moriarty) are nothing but filler material that has little to do with the alien invasion itself. Surely, these issues can be resolved after they prevent the imminent destruction of the Earth. I understand that it's to make the characters sympathetic so the audience can root for them but not only does it come off as insincere, it feels forced and tacked on in order to fill the running time. A full-blown orgy scene is also thrown in and serves no purpose other than for some unnecessary nudity, although the cutaway to a group of men mutually masturbating each other comes so out of left field that you cannot help but laugh out loud. The trajectory of the story is largely predictable with the neighborhood watch breaking up due to Evan being a control freak before banding together again to stop the aliens in a big, obligatory action scene, complete with loud explosions and egregious product placement ads that include Tide laundry detergent and Magnum condoms from Trojan. "The Watch" had the potential to be a great comedy but the film spreads itself too thin by wanting to be a raunchy comedy, a buddy movie, and a parody of sci-fi flicks like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" all at the same time. Spending four years in development hell certainly took their toll. 

The cast do actually manage to work well together and exhibit enough energy to elevate some of the material but their roles aren't particularly challenging, nor do the actors' step outside their comfort zones. Ben Stiller is once again the straight man of the group while Vince Vaughn falls back on his usual shtick where he makes wild gestures and yells all his dialogue as if it was the last thing he'll ever say. Jonah Hill's character feels like it was recycled from leftovers from March's "21 Jump Street" with some subtle variations. Richard Ayoade is a new face to American audiences but he is well-known in his native UK where he stars in the British sitcom "The IT Crowd." He also made his directorial debut with the well-received coming-of-age comedy-drama "Submarine" in 2010, adapted from the 2008 novel of the same name by Joe Dunthorne. Ayoade is unfortunately underused but he makes the most of what he's given with his natural charisma and winning smile. The rest of the cast includes Rosemarie DeWitt as Evan's wife Abby, Will Forte as the clueless Sergeant Bressman, and an uncredited Billy Crudup as a creepy neighbor who manages to steal quite a few scenes from Stiller. 

Released on July 27, 2012, "The Watch" has received overwhelmingly negative reviews with 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics found that it 'uneasily mixes sci-fi elements with gross-out gags and strands its talented cast with a script that favors vulgarity over wit at nearly every turn.' I saw the film at an advanced screening on Tuesday and the audience enjoyed it but the laughs weren't as consistent compared to last month's "Ted." I cannot say whether the Aurora, Colorado tragedy will affect this weekend's box office but it should come as no surprise that "The Dark Knight Rises" will continue to dominate. Still, "The Watch" should turn in a decent $20 to $25 million in second place despite such low ratings from critics. The only competition comes from "Step Up: Revolution," a series that should've been put out to pasture long ago. While I wouldn't call "The Watch" one of the worst R-rated comedies of the year since there are some genuinely funny bits, Akiva Schaffer's film is still a below-average effort that lacks inspiration and suffers from an identity crisis. The cast try their best but are unable to overcome its problematic script despite the strong rapport they share.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

"Motherf*cker, that's the kid that's all over Chelsea's Facebook page! Magnums? There's no way your dick is that big!"