The Watch

Here we have Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughan and Jonah Hill as loathsome suburban knobs whose Neighborhood Watch duties suddenly rise to intergalactic scale as a bunch of slimy critters invade the local Costco to build a transmitter to kick off their invasion of Earth. Blah, blah, blah. It could be fun, but it isn’t. Most of the care taken is in crafting set pieces for the gratuitous product placement, and setting the last half-hour’s worth of action in Costco affords many opportunities for this. (To be fair, the action of that last half hour is almost fun as a rip-off/tribute to the old arcade shooter Area 51.) Unfortunately, the first interminable hour is set to the mundane banter and character arcs of the dimwitted trio. If these kinds of comedy are your bag, you might find this funny. But if you’re expecting clever dialogue and something other than a narrative written with crayons you might wanna save some money by staying home, popping your own corn and settling in with a rental. Cinemark 14 and Feather River Cinemas. Rated R.