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One Hour Photo (Widescreen Edition)

One Hour Photo (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $14.98
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A very good movie!
Review: Sy Parrish, (Williams) is probably the lonliest man I have ever seen on film. He spends his days printing beautiful pictures for other families. Being consumed by their heart warming feel and sadly knowing everyday that he has NO one. At the end of the film instead of feeling angry towards Sy and quite sickened, I instead felt sorry for him. I truly felt SORRY for him. Anyways I loved this movie. It was thrilling and beautiful all at the same time. It didn't really scare me, but I don't think this is a horror movie, but more a character piece. The performances were spectacular, especially Robin Williams. This film should of been nominated for best screenplay at the Oscars.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Robin Williams superb in tight, intelligent thriller
Review: "One Hour Photo" is a clever, offbeat movie that is perhaps 2002's creepiest thriller. Its premise may be unlikely but it's still chillingly plausible. What if that nice man at the store where you have your photos developed has a dangerous obsession with your family? What if alienation and loneliness causes him to start acting out his fantasies?

Seymour Parrish [Robin Williams] is a quiet but pleasant middle-aged man who has worked for years in the photo department of a local discount store. He lives alone in a forlorn apartment. His social interactions seem limited to the store. This is the place where Nina and Will Yorkin, an apparently ideal couple has had family photos developed since their eight-year old son was an infant. What they don't know is that Seymour has made them his 'adopted' family. He fantasizes about being a beloved relative. The Yorkins, however, turn out not to be the perfect family, and when Seymour discovers this, he goes off the deep end.

Robin Williams gives one of his finest performances as Seymour and is even scarier than he was as the killer in "Insomnia". Connie Nielson and Michael Vartan are quite convincing as the Yorkins. The movie's set and art design are especially good, strikingly contrasting Seymour's cold, blue-white world with the warm, earthy tones of the Yorkins'.

"One Hour Photo" is more than a mere thriller. It is a vivid portrait of an ordinary man torn apart by the ravages of alienation. On the surface, Seymour is a monster, but underneath, he is a soul in torment - one I can not help but feel empathy for. Though it's not always easy to watch, I recommend this one highly.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What is WRONG with these people?
Review: This quiet movie begged for a commentary in its DVD format. I hoped I could learn more about what Sy was thinking through comments made by the director and Robin. I am very satisfied with it. The segment where Robin and the director do an interview with Charlie Rose is typical. Robin going off on tangents, seemingly auditioning new characters, saying things that are funny but hard to absorb. Like Dennis Miller on Monday Night Football. For the full movie's commentary, Robin is surprisingly subdued. He isn't quiet but he stays in the same gear and is funnier for it, in my opinion. One thing I may never understand is what happened to the roll of film we see Sy shoot near the ending? When the police process the film, it's yet another twist. Did he swap rolls or did he "pretend," as he said during the "shoot"?

Even people who don't like Robin will find this movie interesting, thought provoking and spooky. I fear this film will be passed over by many as I saw on Halloween, when I was dressed as Sy in his full store uniform. Some people got it right away, others didn't. At a large Halloween party with a contest, I was given a nomination for "Scariest Male." When I made the second round and was being judged by the head judges, one whispered to me: "Scariest? I don't get it." I'm not qualified to say if Robin could win an Oscar for this performance as I don't see a lot of movies. 2002 was not a good year for movies, in my opinion. If Steve Buscemi could be nominated for his performance in Ghost World (another good, quirky flick), I guess it's possible that Robin could get the nod.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "truly, deeply scary!"
Review: A wonderful Robin Williams film! One of his best, one to watch over and over. Williams give an excellent performance in "One Hour Photo" that is worth watching over and over. A beautiful acting job in this thriller that surpasses Insomnia by a long-shot. If you haven't seen this film, you must see today!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Mork" No More
Review: Robin Williams was excellent as a slightly creepy loner. You will find yourself sympathizing with Williams' character, while worrying that he's rapidly going over the edge.

I liked the fact that this movie was not gory, as most Hollywood thrillers tend to be.

Great acting! You've grown up, "Mork". I don't understand why I have not heard more about this movie - it's not the usual slash and burn thriller. Loved it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What an Amazing Film!
Review: Unbelievable. This is easily one of the best movies I have seen in many many years. Robin Williams, in his best performance to date, plays a lonely one hour photo employee at a generic Wal-Mart clone. At the store he is an ideal employee, at least to the customers. But outside of the store his life is unspeakably dull, and lonely. As a way of vicariously living the "ideal" life he becomes obsessed with one his best customer's family, which he feels represents the best humanity has to offer. Unfortunately, when he realizes through the photos he develops that this family is far from ideal, his life begins to fall apart and the tension really starts to build.
I'm not going to ruin anything for you, because I strongly suggest that you see this movie for yourself. It is one of the best thrillers that I have ever seen, and it is horrifyingly real, which makes it incredibly creepy. The acting is unbelievable, the directing is great, the lighting and the colors are all very haunting... It is one of the best movies made in the last couple of years. Strongly recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a study in pathos
Review: One Hour Photo is one of three dark films starring Robin Williams, with Insomia and Death to Smoochy creating what he calls his "tryptich of evil."

The character Sy is a study in cinematic pathos: you're feeling sorry for him pretty early in the movie, though later on you'll question whether he deserves your sympathy. The movie leaves a lot of questions unanaswered. Is Sy truly evil or just well-meaning and deranged at the same time? Are the people in the photos really happy? Does everyone hide behind a photogenic facade? Are we all leading a sort of double life - the one in the photo albums and the one we live every day? This film will get you thinking.

No matter how you slice it, Williams puts on a brilliant and believable performance. Yeah, he's been Mork and Patch Adams, but he's quite good at playing the dark side. The other actors play their parts pretty well. Connie Nielsen does a great job as Nina, the object of Sy's obsession. Michael Vartan's performance as Nina's husband is competent but otherwise unremarkable. Eriq La Salle of ER fame has a bit part as a cool but one-dimensional detective, and Gary Cole's part as the store manager is much more likable (and human) than the manager he played in Office Space.

As for the DVD, it has some great extra features, but the best is a segment of the Charlie Rose Show with Robin Williams and writer/director Mark Romanek. If you need a dose of the "funny Robin" afterwards, check it out.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Picture Perfect
Review: This is one sad, creepy movie. Robin Williams, who is best known for his lighter comedic roles, does a wonderful job here as Sy - the film developer at the local SavMart. Sy is a lonely man, with seemingly no friends or family, and whose life revolves around other people's lives - mainly, the Yorkins, who have been having their family photos developed by Sy for the past 9 years. Sy takes a liking to the family - a young married couple and their 9-year-old son - and always makes an extra set of their pictures...to plaster all over his wall. In his wildest fantasies, he is part of this family. He is "Uncle Sy". Not just "Sy, the photo guy".

One Hour Photo is a creepy film. Sy is obviously a borderline psycho, but you can't help but feel for the guy. On the outside, he seems like a normal guy, but on the inside he is a bit dilusional - and very lonely. For some reason, this one family has sparked his interest the most out of all of his regular customers (even ranking higher than the "amateur porn guy"); I think it's because he never had what they have - a perfect little life, with each other.

This is not your typical suspense thriller. I'm not sure it can even be considered a thriller at all. Actually, I think of it as being a psychological thriller. One that, needless to say, makes you think twice before going to have your film developed. It's a film that is finely scripted and finely acted, and you will never look at Patch Adams the same way ever again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The smartest film in ages.
Review: Films often times follow a forumula. Ok lets be honest, they almost always do. The only times they don't, it's usually a mess.

There's nothing conventional about One Hour Photo. Our film's eye has been tricked into believing movies are extreme. We assume certain things would happen, but then we see it through real eyes and we understand why things are the way they are.

We don't follow the story of a psycopath. We are following the story of a man that has no one. A man that has such a dull life, but daily gets to look into the seemingly wonderful lives of others.

Think about it. What do you capture on film? Great moments. To this tortured soul who has so few great moments, he sees families so happy. Lives he wants to be a part of. He lives through them, and only wishes he could be a part of them. If you look at this movie with a heart you'll see it's more sad than it is scary.

...but things are more than pictures when he takes matters into his own hands. All is well until a secret of his favorite family is revealed through photo.

One Hour Photo is a masterpiece of directing, writing, and acting. Robin Williams gives the best performance of 2002. Don't listen to Oscar, this film is way ahead of it's time and will go down as one of the most brilliant films in a long time.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Intermittently creepy, but mostly a snoozer
Review: I'm tired of people telling me my standards are too high. But I'm sure I'll get another round of it for poo-pooing this latest attempt by Mr. Robin Williams to act "creepy". What's with the bleached-blonde hair? Will the real Slim Shady please sit down- and stay down! There was a real interesting premise, the photo developer who is privy to an awful lot of personal information. But the main family portrayed in the movie is a bit thick to not realize that Sy is not playing with a full deck.


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