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THE WATCH (2012)Movie Reviews
Comedy about four suburban men who try to save their neighborhood, and the world, from extermination by aliens posing as ordinary citizens. Cast:Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill, Rosemarie DeWitt, Vince Vaughn, Richard Ayoade, Will Forte, Billy Crudup, Nicholas Braun, Doug JonesDirector:Akiva SchafferRelease Date:July 27, 2012DVD Release:November 13, 2012From:20th Century FoxRating:RLength:1 hr 40 min
The Watch (2012) played to weak reviews. • Michelle Orange wrote for Movieline, "...one of those smoke bomb comedies that seems to disappear even while you're watching, leaving no trace of itself behind." • And Ty Burr wrote in the Boston Globe, "...another one of those loud, penis-obsessed bro farces..." More Reviews Below...
The Watch (2012) Positive Reviews (40 Reviews, reviews below)
Richard Corliss, Time: POOR "...might be worth sitting through if it were some grand disaster of a sci-fi sex comedy. Instead, it's a disservice to its trio of stars.... an unwatchable botch."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 881 words, 07/27/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: WEAK(cg) "...should be crazy, stupid fun but settles for just stupid.... the laughs rarely come as the actors shout their lines as if the script were written in ALL CAPS."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 120 words, 08/03/12
Claudia Puig, USA Today: MODERATE(cg) "The off-putting tone is set early on: 'The Watch' is mocking in its treatment of Midwesterners and offensive in its various ethnic jokes."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 536 words, 07/27/12
Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: MODERATE(cg) "I wasn't amused. This movie is easily the equal of 'Abbott and Costello,' however, in scenes where the characters stare in disbelief from behind shrubbery."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 436 words, 07/27/12
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: POOR(cg) "...not very good... The only really successful bits of the movie are in spotty interactions between Stiller and Vaughn... the jokes aren't funny enough..."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 697 words, 07/26/12
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: WEAK(cg) "...a study in tedium - of seeing how much recycled junk and tired punch lines a captive audience will endure.... 'The Watch' should not be seen."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 757 words, 07/26/12
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Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: POOR(cg) "...filled with the kind of desperate grab for chuckles usually found in grade-school gym classes, and feels 12 times as long."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 456 words, 07/27/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Many of the individual sketches are very funny, in that dumb-dudes-doing-dumb-things kind of way. It's the transitions where things tend to fall apart."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 781 words, 07/27/12
Kyle Smith, New York Post: POOR(cg) "The danger of dreaming up a predictable adventure for a group of nobodies you hold in contempt is that the audience will see your indifference and raise you."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 719 words, 07/27/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "...it's Richard Ayoade who brings something fresh. He appears to have wandered over from another film set, ready to mess around a little."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 512 words, 07/27/12
Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...refreshingly R-rated, albeit wildly uneven... you'll probably find yourself laughing at least some of the time. Dick jokes, after all, can be pretty funny."(See all of Bilge Ebiri's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 750 words, 07/27/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "I wasn't amused. This movie is easily the equal of 'Abbott and Costello,' however, in scenes where the characters stare in disbelief from behind shrubbery."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 436 words, 07/27/12
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: MODERATE(cg) "...overrun by writers from the planet Vulgaria... a predictable and lazy comedy wrapped around a penis joke occasionally enlivened with some funny lines."(See all of Linda Barnard's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 597 words, 07/27/12
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: POOR(cg) "The Direction. Huh? The Dialogue. Ostensibly, this is written by Jared Stern, with a doctoring assist from no less than the team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 502 words, 07/27/12
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: MODERATE(cg) "...most of the players are simply delivering iterations of characters they've done before... Vaughn and Hill find a particularly amusing rhythm..."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 560 words, 07/27/12
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: MODERATE(cg) "...doesn't have enough laughs, or enough story, to maintain consistent momentum. Instead it meanders through distracting subplots and sputters along..."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 562 words, 07/27/12
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: WEAK(cg) "...another one of those loud, penis-obsessed bro farces, lazily written (by actor Seth Rogen, among others) and haphazardly directed (by Akiva Schaffer)..."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 544 words, 07/27/12
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: POOR(cg) "...there can be no building one laugh on the other, not at any point, because there's not a thing to build on - no emotional truth, no character relationships and no story..."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 588 words, 07/27/12
Mike Russell, Portland Oregonian: MODERATE(cg) "...feels largely improvised, particularly by Vaughn and Hill... there's a fair bit of nonsense here. But mostly there's a great sense of waste."(See all of Mike Russell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 461 words, 07/27/12
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: MODERATE(cg) "...the movie would have been better off as the R-rated spoof of suburban paranoia it pretends to be than the stupid special-effects farce it actually is."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 344 words, 07/27/12
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: POOR(cg) "...offers the chance to discuss anything regarding genitalia, using juvenile euphemisms as punch lines. The alien invasion becomes an afterthought..."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 411 words, 07/27/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: FAIR(cg) "...watchable. Barely.... a movie that thinks and acts like it's a lot funnier than it is. Really, wait for it on cable. At least then you'll be able to change the channel."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 434 words, 07/27/12
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: MODERATE(cg) "How many different ways can one film say: 'Men are idiots'.... Will Forte's snotty cop and Billy Crudup's creepy neighbor are amusing..."(See all of Connie Ogle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 390 words, 07/27/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (8 Reviews)
Sean O'Connell, Cinema Blend: WEAK(cg) "...picks up, plays with, then quickly drops its alien conceit every few minutes. It's never quite sure what do with its sci-fi premise, so it winds up doing very little at all."(See all of Sean O'Connell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 734 words, 07/26/12
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: POOR(cg) "...hard to watch. Not just because it flails about in tone and narrative, but because it also commits grotesque lapses in good taste."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 154 words, 08/02/12
Keith Phipps, AV Club: MODERATE(cg) "...a fine cast of funny people, familiar roles and all, but it places a bit too much confidence in the idea that simply putting funny people together will be enough."(See all of Keith Phipps's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 459 words, 07/26/12
Andrew Schenker, Slant: WEAK(cg) "...what's perhaps most off-putting about the movie isn't its increasingly stale humor, but the way it ultimately validates its characters' worst impulses."(See all of Andrew Schenker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 697 words, 07/26/12
Edward Adams, Atlanta Creative Loafing: WEAK(cg) "There's so many moments where the actors are just improvising, making more dick jokes than any movie should... the below-the-belt yuks just don't let up."(See all of Edward Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 566 words, 07/27/12
Scott Tobias, NPR: WEAK "Doing the umpteenth variation on his 'Swingers' character, Vince Vaughn plays Bob, a reckless, fun-loving counterpoint to Evan's persistent wet blanket."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 543 words, 07/26/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Many of the individual sketches are very funny, in that dumb-dudes-doing-dumb-things kind of way. It's the transitions where things tend to fall apart."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 781 words, 07/27/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: WEAK "...lowbrow, lame-brained... held together (barely) by an endless string of penis jokes... boasts a solid cast with a sharp sense of improv..."(See all of Justin Chang's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 720 words, 07/26/12
Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter: POOR "Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn are playing the guys they always play... moves lazily from setup to punchline to setup, with no particular point and almost no punch."(See all of Sheri Linden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 626 words, 07/26/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Many of the individual sketches are very funny, in that dumb-dudes-doing-dumb-things kind of way. It's the transitions where things tend to fall apart."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 781 words, 07/27/12
15.8 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Watch (2012)'s reviews are separated by an average 15.8 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Watch (2012) (40 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Watch (2012)'s reviews cover 67.5% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 21,696 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 542 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 5.8 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Watch (2012)'s reviews on average broke 5.8 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Watch (2012)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Watch (2012) (40 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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