The Watch (2012) * *

Directed by:  Akiva Schaffer



Starring:  Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Billy Crudup

The Watch is a basic formula buddy comedy with plenty of dick jokes and potty mouth humor.  Oh, and it's also about an alien invasion of a small Ohio town.    Is it a terrible movie?  No, it has some laughs in it and the actors go over and above the material.    Is it memorable?  Not really.   It doesn't really rise to the level of great comedies because it really has no intention to do so.

Ben Stiller plays a manager of a local Costco where the overnight security guard is murdered one night.   Actually, what happens to him is more like what happens when a bug hits a windshield.   This inspires Stiller to form a neighborhood watch, in which he is joined by Vaughn, Hill, and Richard Ayadade as a black Englishman named Jamarcus.    

Soon enough, the guys stumble across a bizarre helmet which has the capability of blowing things to smithereens.   They do this to a cow, truck, car, etc.   This is done in a montage that is exhausted long after the point is made.   Then, Stiller seemingly kills the alien owner of the helmet.    What to do?  Vaughn sees the riches that could be made and many photos are taken of the guys with the alien.   It comes as no surprise that simulated anal sex is included as part the photo package.

It seems in more and more comedies lately, the humor is based on penis jokes and veiled homoeroticism.    Some of them get a good laugh, others are tiresome and there you have it.    Is any of the alien stuff really inspired?  No.  In fact, I think it would've been better if the story kept the neighborhood watch guys battling earthly issues.    By the end when the guys are battling hordes of alien creatures, it doesn't differ much from other battles in serious alien invasion movies.   This reminds of zombie movies; no matter how the material is approached, sooner or later it comes down to a battle between the humans and zombies.  

The actors do what they can.   Stiller is a grounded straight man, while Vaughn's approach is more of an improvisational feel.    They bring energy to a story that needs every bit of it.   But ultimately, it's not enough to make The Watch a not horrible, but rather pedestrian effort.