film reel image

film reel image

Friday, September 27, 2013

The Watch 2012 * * Stars

The picture is of the movie title for the film The WatchDirector: Akiva Schaffer
Year: 2012
Rated: R
Rating: * * Stars
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill

What is it with Vince Vaughn? He's like a big kid actor that won't grow up. The dude is like 40 and he appears in films in which his character could probably be played by someone in their teens or early twenties. He was in Swingers (1996), arguably one of the freshest most original indie comedies of the 90's. Now, he's become a victim of his own doing. I now call his movies "Vince Vaughn Movies". These are movies where he acts well, like Vince Vaughn. With his rambling and improvisational overdose style of delivering lines, he's starting to wear on me as a moviegoer.  Oh, and don't get me started with the titles of his movies (I'm sure it's not his fault). We have The Break Up (2006), The Dilemma (2011), The Internship (2013), and The Delivery Man (2013).  Ouch!

Let's add another "the" to the mix with The Watch (2012).  It's one of those R rated movies that's rated R for the sake of being rated R. You could easily of had this thing be a PG or PG-13 flick.  But why not throw in some unnecessary bad language and gross out humor just for the heck of it (all the studios seem bent on putting movies out like this). Anyway, The Watch tells the story of four residents of a small Ohio town who come together for a common purpose.  They decide to form a neighborhood watch group to stop what they believe to be alien forces inhabiting the area. The four main characters are played by Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade. I don't know much about Ayoade as an actor, but he's got the right idea.  He's trying to play an actual character (maybe it's because it's only his 7th movie). Aside from him though, everyone else seems to be playing themselves.  Ben Stiller is acting like well, Ben Stiller and the same thing goes for Jonah Hill. What the heck!? Can't these guys just emote a little? And the worst one of all is Vaughn. I kinda miss him playing a bad guy like in Domestic Disturbance (2001) (jeez I never thought I'd say that). Sad to say, he's become a parody of himself in the worst way.

As for the movie, I chuckled a bit. I mean, it had that "so stupid it's funny" thing down to a T. There's a little entertainment value there and that's why I gave it a ** Star rating.  I liked a couple of subplots involving Stiller's character's estranged wife and their relationship. The same goes for Vaughn's character and his daughter. It seems like this is stuff from a better movie that got thrown into this one.  But what's on screen for the full 102 minutes is the end result. The Watch is a disposable summer flick that might as well not have been made. The plot may hold up as a cartoon or a teen movie of the week, but as a Hollywood production it holds no weight whatsoever. Vince Vaughn, you were money, but now your just Chapter 11 and you didn't even know it.

Written by Jesse Burleson

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