Basic, comedy-inclined title aside, Neighbourhood Watch proves to be more than just a mismatched buddy effort thanks, in large part, to the winning chemistry between Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jack Quaid, who, against their characters’ best efforts, find a sense of kinship in their respective societal outcasts.
There’s a bit of clumsiness to their exposure of the human trafficking case that’s at the centre of Duncan Skiles‘ thriller, but that’s part of the charm to Ed Deerman (Morgan) and Simon McNally (Quaid) joining forces in a situation that neither wants to be in. Simon having been recently released from a mental institution after a 10-year stint on account of his paranoid schizophrenia makes him an unreliable narrator, and Sean Farley‘s script enjoys this perspective, with Morgan playing into his effortless grumpiness as Simon’s long suffering neighbour who isn’t buying what Simon is selling, which is that he’s better and he’s witnessed a daylight kidnapping.
Ed thinks Simon is “crazy” when he comes knocking on his door asking for help. Simon pleads with Ed to help him save this unknown woman from a fate likely worse than death, and as much as he’s skeptical of what he’s hearing – and the police are no help, not taking his report seriously – Ed can’t quite dismiss him entirely. Having lost his job in security at a local community college and fighting an evident online gambling addiction, Ed feels like assisting Simon will be enough of a distraction, and, as to be expected, an understanding and even a friendship forms between the two as they investigate.
The plot isn’t exactly smooth sailing, but the dialogue pops between Morgan and Quaid, and the opposites-attract temperament is best utilised when director Skiles lets them loose to tackle a case of maybe a missing person. Whether or not the mental health issue is handled believably is another discussion to have, but in the context of the film, it works enough to not feel glorified. It’s also of immense benefit that Quaid plays Simon and his condition with an honest layering, and when the film calls for his character to explain what exactly it’s like in his head and he turns up the car radio volume to full hilt, whilst wildly scanning the dial, it brings us an understanding of his torment, and why he’s so frustrated that he’s never taken seriously.
As much as Neighbourhood Watch works as well as it does when it’s the Morgan & Quaid show, it does manage a welcome change of personality and added exposition through the inclusion of Simon’s sister, DeeDee (Malin Akerman), exasperated, but still ever supporting of her brother. It’s sequences with Simon and DeeDee that ground the film, and when the schizophrenia aspect feel more organic to proceedings, allowing the overall effort to be a mostly successful venture as a minor, low-key thriller that only occasionally strays from its lane.
It’s been a great year for Quaid, with this being his third 2025 feature, after his nice guy charm was twisted for Companion and he proved an action reliable in Novocaine (or Novocaine – No Pain, as it was so dubbed here). Neighbourhood Watch is the most modest of these titles, but it’s arguably the one that stretches his acting abilities the most, with his affable presence not as front and centre, but still managing an agreeable state as a character we can’t help but feel for.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Neighbourhood Watch is now available on VOD and screening in select theatres in the United States.
