(Movie Review) The Watch (2012)

The Watch isn’t exactly “otherworldly funny”, but it manages to abduct a few laughs

If you are wondering, those puns were just as painful for me to write as they were for you to read. Nonetheless, they were too obvious for me to pass up. Much like how the concept for this movie was too obvious for Stiller and Vaughn to pass up. Why? Because neither of these actors have carried a movie on their own shoulders for a while. I’m sure that the thought of getting paid a lot of money to do a fourth of the work is really attractive. Think about it. When is the last time Stiller was funny without an ensemble cast to do all of the work? Zoolander (2001)? Vaughn hasn’t made me laugh since Wedding Crashers. Maybe they just work better in large groups. They are like the Hyenas of the comedy world. They can do nothing on their own but when they are in a large pack they actually appear formidable.

Storyline: After a grisly murder at the local Costco, store manager Evan (Stiller) takes it upon himself to start a neighborhood watch group. After he makes a public plea at a local sporting event, he ends up with 3 participants that agree to join his cause. While on a call one night they encounter something that confirms to them that we are not alone in this universe. The four men must find a way to protect their town, and the world, from an impending alien invasion.

I have to be the one that points out how completely unfunny Ben Stiller has been lately. I can name plenty of movies that were “OK” that he was horrible, unlikeable, and unfunny in. He just seems to phone it in most of the time. I know that some might disagree with me, but I feel like he was just as bad in this film. Not horrible, just not memorable. The only time that I laughed at his scenes was when he shared them with someone else (usually Jonah Hill or Richard Ayoade).

Worth the admission? It’s a pretty crude comedy. But other than the shortcoming mentioned about Stiller, the movie oddly works for me. I will say that it is worth the price of admission, but only because I was expecting it to be a huge disaster and it turned out to be much better than the previews suggested.

While this movie tries to force Ben Stiller on you as the star, Vince Vaughn’s character almost takes control of the film. Not that Vaughn is even that much better than Stiller these days, but his character was  consistently more likeable and funnier in this film than the “star”.