When he witnesses an abduction, a mentally troubled man enlists the aid
of his ex-security guard neighbour.
Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Duncan Skiles
Starring: Jack Quaid, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman
Director Duncan Skiles, whose 2018 thriller The Clovehitch Killer has developed something of a cult following in recent years,
returns with Neighborhood Watch. Skiles' latest has the sort of setup that fuelled many a comic
thriller back in the '80s. It's a classic buddy movie, pairing two
mismatched misfits for an adventure that plunges them into their city's
criminal underworld. 40 years ago it would have paired a seasoned
veteran like Nick Nolte or James Woods with a rising comic star like
Eddie Murphy or Michael J. Fox. It also likely would have struck a more
natural balance between its comedy and its action, something Skiles and
writer Sean Farley never quite pull off here.
The modern day Murphy/Fox figure is Jack Quaid's Simon, a
mentally troubled young man who spent a decade in a psychiatric
institution following years of childhood abuse at the hands of his
father. Now released into the care of his older sister DeeDee (a
wasted Malin Akerman), Simon is struggling to fit back in
with the world. The noises in his head cause him to utter gibberish,
which his doctors have labelled "word salad," and he's plagued by
hallucinations, often of his father. One day while passing an alleyway, Simon sees a man bundle a screaming
young woman into the back of a van and drive off. Did it really happen or
was it another of Simon's hallucinations?
The Nolte/Woods surrogate here is Jeffrey Dean Morgan's
Ed, a volatile middle-aged man who lost his job as director of
security at a local college campus, where he still hangs out looking out
for mischievous kids. Aware of Ed's past and having had no luck convincing
the police of what he witnessed, Simon asks the curmudgeon for help. Ed is
initially hesitant to spend time with this crazy kid, but seeing the
opportunity to return to some good old detective work, Ed indulges Simon
and the pair begin an investigation into a crime that may never had
actually happened.
All the elements for a successful blackly comic crime thriller are set in
place in Neighborhood Watch's first act, but the movie fails to develop them in an entertaining
manner. While Simon feels sufficiently fleshed out, and Quaid does a fine
job of portraying his mental issues without leaning into cheap and
distasteful mockery, Ed is too inconsistent to be believable. The script
struggles to find compelling reasons for Ed to continue to help Simon, and
he seems to change his opinion of the younger man solely for the
convenience of moving the plot along. There's none of the comic tension of
something like 48 Hrs. as Simon and Ed become friends far too early, denying us the sort
of bickering that usually makes these stories so entertaining.
The plot is similarly half-baked, and things seem to happen simply
because they have to in order for the story to continue. Plot holes and
inconsistencies arise, leaving us asking questions regarding how certain
characters come to certain conclusions. Tonally, the movie makes an
awkward switch from the light comedy of the first half into something
closer to a straight thriller in its back half, rather than blending the
two elements together for the duration. Given how the movie's low budget
means we don't get any of the car chases or shootouts we would have back
in the '80s, Neighborhood Watch really needed to lean more into its comic potential. As the
movie plods to its conclusion, we're left to wonder how much fun this
would have been 40 years ago.
Neighborhood Watch is in US
cinemas and on VOD from April 25th. A UK/ROI release has yet to be
announced.
