When a self righteous, do-gooder, Store Manager called Evan decides to
set up a Neighbourhood Watch, after his friend and store security guard is
mysteriously murdered, he comes up against something completely unexpected. Ben
Stiller plays this lead character in his no thrills, deadpan, way and shortly after
this starts becoming painful we are introduced to the three co-stars, in the
hope that they can be a foil to Stiller’s predicable and all too samey
approach.
Vince Vaughn plays the boisterous Bob who is perhaps the
strongest of the crew, pulling a few laughs, but once again filling a role he
has become stereotyped for. He has some back story and a daughter called Chelsea,
Erin Moriarty, who he obsesses over.
Jonah Hill (Moneyball) plays the strange Franklin and Richard Ayoade
(The IT Crowd) plays the even stranger Jamarcus. Both are uneasy and it’s
difficult to really pin down what they represent or to form any attachment to
them.
There is definitely a trend of uncertainty which runs
through the film and perhaps the highlights are the set pieces rather than the
overall story which is fairly predictable. There is a scene where the Watch are
caught drinking alcohol in their car and Stiller is fined by the persistent
Sergeant Bressman, played by the amusing Will Forte. When they think they have
a dead alien on their hands and begin taking photos of it in rube positions they
soon find out that the alien is only unconscious.
The concept of bringing aliens into this type of comedy
arena is a risky one. The film is billed as a comedy not a comedy sci-fi and
although it could be argued that the secret in the film is the science fiction
element you have a sense that this is a difficult match. It does feel as if the
sci-fi is just a gimmick rather than an important part of the storyline.
Thankfully though it’s not too long and curious enough to keep you watching.
61/100
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