This is what happens when a debutant director gets in the power of a veteran cameraman. Michael Chapman photographed Taxi Driver. But Martin Scorsese was behind the wheel there. Here Chapman plays up to the blind side of tyro Joe Charbanic in a potboiler about a serial killer (Keanu Reeves) playing cat-and-mouse with a Chicago cop (James Spader) by sending him photos of his intended young and female victims 24 hours before he strangles them with piano wire, and daring Spader to apprehend him in time.
Admittedly, the basic gimmick of symbiosis between the provocative psychotic and the burned-out lawman, whose wick is lit again by the challenge, is not worth much more than the calling-card package its makers have made of it. But Chapman really goes on a spree of his own to turn it into a visual extravaganza of nearly every flashy technique in the cameraman's lexicon: jump cuts, eye-blink editing, negativeinto-positive shots, blurred action, hand-held "stalker" sequences and all to a thunderclap sound-track.
The film looks as if it spent more time in the effects lab and editing suite than it did being shot on Chicago's streets. Performances don't survive this Mixmaster shredding: Spader is either one-degree-under or else wildly OTT, Reeves is all grin and gloat, and Marisa Tomei, as the cop's shrink, has little to do except feed her costars their lines and shriek when she's lined up as the ultimate victim.
The film has one claim to novelty: it reveals the dramatic climax of the story in the opening minutes, thus exposing you to the suspicion that the trailer has been included in the feature.
The Watcher
Cert: cert12
