The Watch

Current events have given neighborhood watch groups a bit of a bad reputation. The low-brow comedy The Watch isn’t likely to change that, nor does it even try.

The first word in the original title was dropped during post-production, but it’s clear from the opening frame that this isn’t a drama ripped from the headlines.

Instead, it is an uneven mix of raunchy male-bonding comedy with a science-fiction twist that provides some scattered laughs but lacks consistency.

Ben Stiller stars as Evan, a neurotic suburban busybody whose latest volunteer venture involves creating a neighborhood watch group to help solve the murder of a co-worker. The response from the community is less than enthusiastic, leaving Evan with party guy Bob (Vince Vaughn), loose cannon Franklin (Jonah Hill) and quiet outsider Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade), none of whom exactly share his vision for the watch group.

Despite being ridiculed by neighbors and the local police, the quartet forges ahead. However, the discovery of a strange presence in the town turns their focus away from vandals and skateboarders toward something much bigger.

Director Akiva Schaffer (Hot Rod) has created several digital shorts for “Saturday Night Live,” and this feels like an idea that would fit into the same category.

It features some spirited performances and a handful of clever throwaway gags that keep it amusing for longer than it probably should be. However, the script — credited to a trio of writers including actor Seth Rogen — starts to squander that potential by ditching the character-driven, frat-house approach in favor of melodramatic nonsense that veers off in too many different directions.

The supernatural twist has an offbeat vibe that fits with the material, but it gradually turns more predictable as the characters take the inevitable action-hero route.

That’s a shame, because the actors provide some decent broad laughs, with Stiller as a bewildered straight man in the Hank Hill vein. Vaughn gets the bulk of the best lines as a fun-loving father, while Ayoade (who directed the British independent drama Submarine) maintains a goofy charm.

Like its predecessors involving mall cops and security guards, The Watch stumbles when it ventures out of its jurisdiction.

Rated R, 102 minutes.