Review of The Watch (2012) by Harry W — 19 Jan 2014

The Watch has a decent premise, but doesn't feature a strong screenplay or enough strength to let it's characters develop. It barely even features a consistency of jokes and becomes an uneven pile of recycled gags jammed into a running time of 102 Minutes.

The Watch even attempts to deal with serious themes at times but it all becomes shrouded in unfunny humour and crude language. It also suffers from poor lighting, slow pacing and excessively long buildup to an unimpressive climax. The Watch had the right ideas but had no new ways to express them, and also failed to provide a good fourth character and so Richard Ayoade is too forgettable and no standout whatsoever as well as getting about 15 minutes of screen time. He was miscast though because The Watch was too American for Ayoade to work with. He'd be funnier in a different film.

The bare save in the watch is the lead actors and their comic timing.

Ben Stiller is good in his dramatic moments and despite lacking consistent laughs is half-decent.

Vincent Vaughn is stuck with the weakest lines in the script, yet still has his natural comedic charm.

Jonah Hill is the standout performance in a half jittery character who somehow works with the weak screenplay. If you like Jonah Hill, this is probably worth a check out.

But if you like a good comedy, then The Watch isn't something to Watch.