The Watcher (2000/I)

Director:

Joe Charbanic

Writers (WGA):

Darcy Meyers (story) and
David Elliot (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 September 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Don't go home alone.

Plot:

David Allen Griffin is a cool killer- time and time again, he chooses a female victim, studies her for...

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Stalking By Night | Fast Motion Sequence | Police Chase | Cemetery

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

James Spader	...	Joel Campbell
Keanu Reeves	...	David Allen Griffin
Marisa Tomei	...	Dr. Polly Beilman
Ernie Hudson	...	Ibby
Chris Ellis	...	Hollis
Robert Cicchini	...	Mitch Casper
Yvonne Niami	...	Lisa Anton
Jenny McShane	...	Diana (as Jennifer McShane)
Gina Alexander	...	Sharon
Rebekah Louise Smith	...	Ellie
Joseph Sikora	...	Skater (as Joe Sikora)
Jill Peterson	...	Jessica (as Jillian Peterson)
Michele DiMaso	...	Rachel (as Michelle Dimaso)
Andrew Rothenberg	...	Jack Fray
David Pasquesi	...	Norton
Dana Kozlov	...	Anchorwoman
Butch Jerinic	...	Flower Girl
Marilyn Dodds Frank	...	Wanda, Jessica's Mother
Rebeca Arthur	...	Business Woman (as Rebekah Arthur)
Sheila Lahey	...	Wanda's Sister
Jason Wells	...	Computer Tech
Lisa Velten	...	Photo Store Employee
Mindy Bell	...	Supervising Agent
Ryan Oliver	...	Waiter
Varen Black	...	Female Reporter
Tamara Tungate	...	Young Woman
Jennifer Anglin	...	Television Reporter
Erikka Yancy	...	Campbell's Secretary
Peter J. Reineman	...	Motel Clerk (as Peter Reinemann)
Michael Nicolosi	...	Passerby
Rich Komenich	...	Bloody Guy
Michael Guido	...	Mendel
Janelle Snow	...	Waitress
Joe Forbrich	...	Bennigan's Manager
Scott Benjaminson	...	Guest
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erick Esteban	...	Coffee Store Clerk (as Frederick Garcia)
Chris Ashworth	...	S.W.A.T. Team Leader (uncredited)
Mike Bacarella	...	(unconfirmed) (uncredited)
Nasi Glekas	...	S.W.A.T. Entry Man (uncredited)
René Ketterer	...	Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
Mark Lassise	...	Chicago S.W.A.T. (uncredited)
Steve Lyke	...	Detective (uncredited)
Scott A. Martin	...	FBI Agent (uncredited)
Joe Monaco	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Eriq F. Prince	...	FBI Agent (uncredited)
Joey Sylvester	...	Waiter (uncredited)

Directed by
Joe Charbanic

Writing credits (WGA)
Darcy Meyers		(story) and
David Elliot		(story)
David Elliot		(screenplay) and
Clay Ayers		(screenplay)

Produced by
Brian Benson	....	line producer
Patrick D. Choi	....	executive producer (as Patrick Choi)
John D. Crededio	....	co-executive producer
Christopher Eberts	....	producer
David Elliot	....	co-producer
Jeremy Lappen	....	co-producer
Elliott Lewitt	....	producer (as Elliot Lewitt)
Nile Niami	....	producer
Clark Peterson	....	co-producer
Paul Pompian	....	executive producer
Steven T Puri	....	co-producer
Jeff Rice	....	producer

Original Music by
Marco Beltrami

Cinematography by
Michael Chapman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Richard Nord

Casting by
Jane Alderman
Carmen Tetzlaff

Production Design by
Brian Eatwell
Maria Rebman Caso		(as María Caso)

Art Direction by
Jeff Wallace

Set Decoration by
Pat Raney

Costume Design by
Jay Hurley

Makeup Department
Mary 'Dugan' Buono	....	hair stylist
Dominic Mango	....	key hair stylist
Suzi Ostos	....	key makeup artist
Chip Williams	....	special makeup effects artist
Denise Wynbrandt	....	makeup artist

Production Management
John Burrows	....	production manager
Ron De Rosa	....	production supervisor
Paul Pompian	....	unit production manager
Barrett Taylor	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Berke	....	second assistant director
Thomas Coe	....	second second assistant director
John Elmore	....	assistant director: second unit
Aiman A. Humaideh	....	key second assistant director
Jeff Jensen	....	second unit director
Scott Metcalfe	....	first assistant director
Matt Miller	....	assistant director: second unit
Ron Rapiel	....	first assistant director: second unit
Robert Schick	....	assistant director: second unit (as Bob Schick)

Art Department
Ray Conchado	....	set dresser
Anthony Joseph Fatigato	....	painter
Thomas J. Glynn	....	set dresser
Joe Monaco	....	set dresser: second unit (as Joey 'Bag O' Donuts' Monaco)
Michael V. Nichols	....	set dresser
Jodi Tripi	....	art department coordinator
Gary E. Wamhoff	....	carpenter

Sound Department
Barney Cabral	....	supervising sound editor
John Cannon	....	first assistant sound editor
Jacob D. Collins	....	production sound mixer
Fred 'Rudy' DeLisio	....	foley artist
Richard Dwan Jr.	....	adr editor
Richard Dwan Jr.	....	dialogue editor
Lisa Gillespie	....	utility sound: second unit
Jeff Glueck	....	additional sound
Matthew Iadarola	....	supervising re-recording mixer
Nicholas James	....	supervising sound editor
John Kurlander	....	sound engineer
Steve La Fayette	....	sound mixer: second unit
Glenn T. Morgan	....	sound effects editor
Jean-Yves Munch	....	boom operator: second unit
Hugh Murphy	....	assistant sound editor
Nick Neutra	....	foley mixer
Alex Riordan	....	boom operator: second unit
Perry Robertson	....	sound effects editor
Beau Shiminsky	....	adr recordist
Dean St. John	....	adr mixer
Ronald L. Wright	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Sam Barkan	....	special effects coordinator
Bruce A. Strong	....	special effects foreman

Visual Effects by
Michelle Butler	....	digital artist
Aimee Campbell	....	motion tracking supervisor: Centropolis Effects
Matt Cordner	....	digital effects artist
Robert Cribbett	....	digital compositor: CFX
Chris Del Conte	....	visual effects producer: CFX
Aaron Dem	....	visual effects head of production: CFX
Jon Doyle	....	digital artist
David Fogg	....	compositing supervisor
Mark Franco	....	visual effects executive producer: CFX
Greg Groenekamp	....	senior compositor: CFX
Rodney Iwashina	....	visual effects supervisor
Keith Kellogg	....	3D tracker
Tom Lamb	....	digital artist
Sheila Molnar	....	digital artist
Kosta Saric	....	visual effects editor
Mandy Sekelsky	....	Production Assistant
Mandy Tankenson	....	visual effects coordinator: CFX
Brian Wolf	....	digital compositor

Stunts
Mickey Alzola	....	stunts
Kevin Ball	....	stunts
Nick Brandon	....	stunts
Paul Dallenbach	....	stunts
Tobiasz Daszkiewicz	....	utility stunts
Eddie J. Fernandez	....	stunt driver (as Eddie Fernandez)
Eddie J. Fernandez	....	stunts (as Eddie Fernandez)
James Fierro	....	stunts
Brent Fletcher	....	stunt driver
Oliver Hanisch	....	stunts
Mark Harper	....	stunts
Cort Hessler	....	stunt coordinator (as Cort Hessler III)
Terry James	....	stunts
Lance King	....	stunts
Rick Le Fevour	....	stunts
Gina Mari	....	stunts
Rick Miller	....	stunts
Joe Murphy	....	stunt double
Carl Paoli	....	stunts
Linda Perlin	....	stunts
Steve Ritzi	....	stunts
Brian Smyj	....	stunt driver
Brian Smyj	....	stunts (as Bryan Smyj)
Bobby Stuart	....	stunts (as Bob Stuart)
Joseph J. Tomaska	....	stunts (as Joe Tomaska)
Daniel Maldonado	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Caroline Brandes	....	additional grip
Paolo Cascio	....	additional camera operator
Dawn Copeland	....	electrician: 2nd unit
Dennis De La Mata	....	key grip: second unit
Bob Gomez	....	electrician: second unit
C. David Jones	....	grip (as Charles Jones)
Lorna Leslie	....	first assistant camera: Los Angeles
Julie 'Doc' Lindstrom	....	additional grip: second unit
Michelle M. Mann	....	assistant camera: second unit
Joe Melichar	....	electrician
Darryl Miller	....	grip
Leslie Nagy	....	grip
Steven Parker	....	electrician
Phil Pastuhov	....	aerial camera operator
Keith Pokorski	....	assistant camera
Ryan Puckett	....	grip
Rick Rios	....	grip
Jeff Roberts	....	camera operator
Kathryn Roberts	....	assistant camera (as Kathryn Mueller)
Darren Rydstrom	....	additional camera operator
Richard Sobin	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Sean Tanner	....	gaffer
Ric Waite	....	additional photographer
Kieran Waugh	....	electrician
Mark N. Woods	....	assistant camera
Joplin Wu	....	director of photography: Los Angeles
Tommy James Lewis	....	first assistant camera: second unit (uncredited)

Casting Department
Regina Prokop	....	extras casting
Mary Jo Slater	....	casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Karan Doherty	....	costumer
Airan Wright	....	wardrobe production assistant

Editorial Department
Timothy Colletti	....	assistant editor
Trudy Yee	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Marco Beltrami	....	conductor
Marco Beltrami	....	orchestrator
William Boston	....	orchestrator (as Bill Boston)
Julian Bratolyubov	....	score preparation
Simon James	....	orchestra contractor
Daniel J. Johnson	....	co-music editor
Kevin Kliesch	....	orchestrator
John Kurlander	....	music recording engineer
John Kurlander	....	score mixer
Chris McGeary	....	music editor
Buck Sanders	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Michael R. Cairo	....	driver
Joe Vanis	....	driver

Other crew
Jeffrey Brown	....	assistant production coordinator
Heather Cappiello	....	script supervisor
Dru Anne Carlson	....	script supervisor
Laurie Carreira	....	assistant production coordinator
Jonas Cukierman	....	assistant production coordinator
Leslie Anne Engel	....	production coordinator
Eric L. Fersten	....	production secretary
Veloz Gomez	....	production assistant
P.J. Haines	....	caterer
Christopher James Hall	....	production supervisor: additional photography
Matt Hickey	....	production assistant
Vien Hong	....	adr voice
Jillian Jester	....	production assistant
Ross L. Kulma	....	set medic
Kevin LaRosa	....	aerial coordinator (as Kevin La Rosa)
Kevin LaRosa	....	pilot (as Kevin La Rosa)
Robin Len	....	title designer
Cary Lowe	....	unspecified: marine unit
Sean Lynn	....	chef
Nancy S. Marshall	....	additional assistant production coordinator
Chris Papajohn	....	unspecified: marine unit
Anna Lynn Reeves	....	production assistant
Bill Richards	....	helicopter pilot
Rocky Russell	....	production assistant
Buck Sanders	....	electronic design
Hakeem Smith	....	key production assistant
Adrienne Swan	....	first assistant accountant
Janette Vecchiarelli	....	assistant: Mr. Reeves
Chris Velazquez	....	assistant to producer
Michael Vogler	....	key production accountant
James E. Wade	....	set location assistant
C. Ransom Walrod	....	marine coordinator
Sonia Walsh	....	payroll accountant
Sandra J. White	....	second assistant accountant
Andrew Wilson	....	assistant: Mr. Charbanic
Joseph Keideth	....	security: Mr. Reeves (uncredited)

Thanks
Steve Cardone	....	special thanks
Seon Park	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Interlight (in association with)
• Universal Pictures (presents)

Distributors

• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2001) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Independent Films (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Avsar Film (2000) (Turkey) (all media)
• Capitol Films (France)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2001) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• GAGA
• Humax Pictures
• LK-TEL (2001) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2001) (Argentina) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Pictures
• Manga Films (2000) (Spain) (all media)
• New Films International
• Sherlock Media S.L. (Spain)
• Spentzos Films (Greece)
• Tobis StudioCanal (Germany)
• Yorin (2003) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)

Other Companies

• Chicago Studio City  grip and lighting equipment
• Chicago Studio City  production facilities
• Chicago Studio City  production services
• Driven Productions Inc.  author of this motion picture for purposes of copyright and other laws
• Gamma Studios  title design: main titles
• Studio X  score mixed at

Also Known As:

Driven (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Interlight

Trivia:

Universal reportedly paid $5 million to acquire the North American distribution rights of this movie.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Towards the end of the film, right before Griffin shoots Campbell with the shotgun, we see a close-up of the Glock pistol that Campbell is holding. You can clearly see that the barrel is plugged with only a small hole showing. This is obviously a prop gun, most likely a BB gun.

Quotes:

David Allen Griffin: [to Dr. Polly Beilman] Do you think... some of your patients might pay to come see you because... you're very pretty.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Not Another Teen Movie (2001)

Soundtrack:

HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER

Believably tragic characters without over-the-top performances.

I didn't expect to like this movie as much as I did. The plot was written in a way to make the characters very believable and real. Spader plays a tragic hero that needs the bad guy (under-played to perfection by Reeves) to come back into his life in order to find closure with his past and come to terms with the present. Neither Spader nor Reeves played to stereotypes common to this genre, and as a result, their performances were gritty and powerful without coming across as over-the-top. Stereotyped performances are a common weakness in many other similar movies, which are also good movies, but they rely on star performances from their marquee actors. This becomes a troublesome thing when the acting tends to define the movie and hides weaknesses and implausibility within the script. Recent examples of this are seen in The Bone Collector, Copycat, and Kiss The Girls. I liked each of these movies for different reasons, but The Watcher was more real to me because the actors weren't playing a type. Spader showed a reluctant vulnerability and a controlled intensity that was very true-to-life in my experience. And Reeves was so spooky as the serial killer because he tried to show a small sliver of his Evil each time without ever overdoing it. Another great surprise was Tomei, who came out of semi-retirement to also give us a dead-on performance as Spader's psychiatrist. She, too, acted emotionally in a way that filled the role without ever becoming a movie stereotype. Visually, her hair, make-up, and clothes helped downplay her character and allowed her to become just another real person who arbitrarily became involved in things. I think this was a great choice for her.