REVIEW: The Watch

Put this one up for an award: a Golden Raspberry for  the worst of the year.  It’s a great  cast that’s  badly used in a comedy that goes by this rule: when in doubt, go to for the male crotch joke.

 Ben Stiller stars as a Costco manager who  organizes a neighborhood watch when his night security guard is viciously murdered on the job.  Joining the neighborhood watch:   partying dad Vince Vaughn , cop wanna-be Jonah Hill and  the funniest of all, British tv  comedic actor Richard Ayoade, a name no one seems to know how to pronounce.  He’s the only spark in a comedy that has maybe  handful of laughs. Oh- it’s pronounced eye-oh-wah’-dee. I had to  go to I don’t know how many youtube videos to finally hear him say it himself. Whew!  Actually- that whole process was more fun that the movie.

Rosemarie Dewitt (of “Rachel Getting Married” and “your Sister’s Sister”) is wasted as Stiller’s wife .

 This is not only one of the unfunniest comedies of the year, it’s  one of the unscariest  alien movies ever.  Not to mention  it’s a movie that’s an unintentional  creepout twice-over.  It was originally  called “The Neighborhood Watch” til the George Zimmerman killing of Trayvon Martin.  Then there’s the Jonah Hill scene  showing a cache of  guns under his mattress. Very bad timing  a week after the Aurora movie theater  massacre.

 “The Watch” had me watching  my Iphone to see how soon  this barely watchable film would  end.

 ½ star