The Watch

 

                                               


                   It is easy to fit movies into genres. There are comedies, horror, drama, action… you get the point. Sometimes, just like in everything else in life you can’t just put something somewhere because you think it belongs there. Some movies go through so many different rewrites or story ideas, that what once sounded like a great idea turns into a mess because of all the different directions the story took. “The Watch” is one of those films, it even had a different title when the year began, even though it was the same movie it is now.

        Glenview, Ohio is the perfect small town that everyone wants to live in. It has everything that someone would need, except all of the bad things like major crime that comes with living in a big city. Evan (Ben Stiller) loves his city and starts things like a runners club in order to bring everyone together. He also is the manger of the town’s Costco, which seems to be the center of everything going on in town. One night there is a strange murder at the Costco and Evan decides that the only way to keep his town safe is to start a Neighborhood Watch. After an emotional plea for people to join him in his effort to keep Glenview safe, he finds three guys who are willing to step up. Bob (Vince Vaughn) is a guy who wants to protect his daughter from the world. Franklin (Jonah Hill ) is a reject from the police who just wants to be some sort of law-enforcer, and Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade) is new is town and just wants to make friends. Together they team up to stop crime, or in this case, an alien invasion and make their town safe again.

    “The Watch” really has a hard time trying to figure out what is wants to be. I always find it a bad sign that there is not much laughter going on during a movie that claims to be a comedy. Not even the comic genius of Seth Rogen, who co-wrote the film with Jared Stern and Evan Goldberg, could find a way to give this film many laughs. Vince Vaughn is the only one who gives the film any humor, and in the end he’s just being well, Vince Vaughn. Ben Stiller to me has joined Adam Sandler in people who should stop making movies for a bit. Stiller just plays the same character in every one of his movies and he just isn’t funny anymore. I wish I could say more good things about this film than bad, but I can’t. My suggestion is to skip this movie and go see “The Dark Knight Rises” again, because “The Watch” deserves nothing more than a passing glance.  And if you saw the preview, that’s enough.

Brian Taylor