Watch It is a movie that wants to say something thoughtful about the lives and values of four young men, and manages some scenes of real insight. But the effect is spoiled by a plot device that I don t think quite works the way the filmmakers thought it would. The movie takes place in Chicago, where three guys live together in a big suburban house. The cousin of the house s owner comes to visit, and is introduced to the game of Watch It!, which they ve played since they were undergraduates at Northwestern. The game consist of elaborate practical jokes, climaxed with the punchline, Watch It! (For example, one guy opens the refrigerator and another jumps out and shouts, Watch It! )
This story has been told a hundred times, and yet when it is told well it is always fun to watch it being told again. The kid comes from the small town to the big city. He has a gift. He signs up as a professional, working for some pretty tough people. He meets a good girl. He meets a bad girl. He meets a villain. He wants more independence than his employers will give him. At the end of the story, we don't have to be movie producers to know that he will reject the bad girl, embrace the good girl, defeat the villain, triumph in his big test and win his independence.