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ONE HOUR PHOTO
A bone chilling performance by the late Robin Williams is the centerpiece of a riveting psychological thriller from 2002 called One Hour Photo that keeps the viewer riveted yet squirming thanks to a story that provides as many questions as it does answers and is worth the creepy journey despite an ending that was a bit of a letdown.
Williams plays Sy Parrish, an employee in a one hour photo lab who has developed an unhealthy obsession with a regular customer named Nina Yorkin (Connie Nielsen), her son Jake (Dylan Smith) and Nina's husband, Will (Michael Vartan)who, as the story begins, Sy has never met. It soon becomes apparent that Sy's obsession with this family has crossed all kinds of boundaries as he has actually imagined himself to be part of the family. It is revealed that the Yorkins are not the blissful model family that Sy has created in his mind and certain events cause Sy to snap and do what he has to in order to preserve his self-created family.
Writer/director Mark Romanek has crafted a compelling story that does provide its share of scares but does a much more effective job at creating squirm worthy situations that we know are wrong but this creepy central character is blissfully unaware. Romanek builds this puzzle of a character slowly and deliberately beginning with Nina coming to Sy with film requesting 2 prints of each photo and we see Sy write down 3. It initially seems to stretch credibility when even young Jake confesses to his mother that he thinks Sy is lonely and is worried about him, but the real squirming for the viewer begins at Jake's baseball practice where he hears his name and instead of seeing one of his parents, Sy is sitting in the bleachers all by himself.
Romanek's creation of this central character is fascinating considering the lack of information we are given about him. I love that Romanek attempts to elicit sympthy for the character by having him serve as the story's narrator, looking at every aspect of life through the art of photography. It's obvious there are mental health issues going on with this character though they are never addressed. Nothing else resembling backstory ever really comes to light regarding Sy either...this is the first time in a long time I remember meeting a character at the beginning of a movie and not knowing anymore about him at the end of the movie.
Robin Williams turns in a powerhouse performance that shows surprising understatement in its execution...this character could have easily gone over the top and become laughable but never does. Williams has never lost himself in a character the way he does here.
Nielsen is lovely as Nina and the usually wooden Michael Vartan has never been better as Will. Eriq LaSalle and Gary Cole also make their scenes count as a police detective and Sy's boss, respectively. The hook of Sy wanting to see his final photos after his arrest didn't work for me because the pictures were nothing like I was expecting, but a pretty chilling ride up to the fuzzy conclusion.
A bone chilling performance by the late Robin Williams is the centerpiece of a riveting psychological thriller from 2002 called One Hour Photo that keeps the viewer riveted yet squirming thanks to a story that provides as many questions as it does answers and is worth the creepy journey despite an ending that was a bit of a letdown.
Williams plays Sy Parrish, an employee in a one hour photo lab who has developed an unhealthy obsession with a regular customer named Nina Yorkin (Connie Nielsen), her son Jake (Dylan Smith) and Nina's husband, Will (Michael Vartan)who, as the story begins, Sy has never met. It soon becomes apparent that Sy's obsession with this family has crossed all kinds of boundaries as he has actually imagined himself to be part of the family. It is revealed that the Yorkins are not the blissful model family that Sy has created in his mind and certain events cause Sy to snap and do what he has to in order to preserve his self-created family.
Writer/director Mark Romanek has crafted a compelling story that does provide its share of scares but does a much more effective job at creating squirm worthy situations that we know are wrong but this creepy central character is blissfully unaware. Romanek builds this puzzle of a character slowly and deliberately beginning with Nina coming to Sy with film requesting 2 prints of each photo and we see Sy write down 3. It initially seems to stretch credibility when even young Jake confesses to his mother that he thinks Sy is lonely and is worried about him, but the real squirming for the viewer begins at Jake's baseball practice where he hears his name and instead of seeing one of his parents, Sy is sitting in the bleachers all by himself.
Romanek's creation of this central character is fascinating considering the lack of information we are given about him. I love that Romanek attempts to elicit sympthy for the character by having him serve as the story's narrator, looking at every aspect of life through the art of photography. It's obvious there are mental health issues going on with this character though they are never addressed. Nothing else resembling backstory ever really comes to light regarding Sy either...this is the first time in a long time I remember meeting a character at the beginning of a movie and not knowing anymore about him at the end of the movie.
Robin Williams turns in a powerhouse performance that shows surprising understatement in its execution...this character could have easily gone over the top and become laughable but never does. Williams has never lost himself in a character the way he does here.
Nielsen is lovely as Nina and the usually wooden Michael Vartan has never been better as Will. Eriq LaSalle and Gary Cole also make their scenes count as a police detective and Sy's boss, respectively. The hook of Sy wanting to see his final photos after his arrest didn't work for me because the pictures were nothing like I was expecting, but a pretty chilling ride up to the fuzzy conclusion.