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One Hour Photo (Widescreen Edition)

One Hour Photo (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Much Different For Robin Williams
Review: Williams is usually the happy-go-lucky protagonist in most of his movies; but in this case he is the antagonist. He is a photograph developer with a major-league crush on this one frequent customer of his. By film's end, he does NOT do what you hope he'll just do and get over with, which (in its own sick sort of way) is kind of depressing. In fact, I have a hard time finding ANYTHING wrong with anything he DOES do. He's just a lonely man who wants a family, which is the message I'm left with: "It's terrible to die alone, with no one to miss you."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A simple man with a very dark side!!
Review: Robin Williams' character processes and develops pictures. He becomes obssesed with the photos of one family. It's what he does that makes this suspense film what it is. It plays more on one's mind than a lot of blood and gore! If you're a Robin Williams fan, rent this -- a must see!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One Hour Photo - One highly suspenseful and enjoyable film!
Review: Given the backdrop of the local SavMart and the stunning performance of Robin Williams, this film is a deeply scary thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat all the way through; whether it's out of complete fear of what his character will do next or the embarrassment he faces for his actions.

This is most certainly Robin Williams scariest role to date and one in which he's least like himself as he's completely suppressed his comedic nature for the almost clinical persona of Seymour "Sy" Parish. He certainly deserves any and all accolades he earns from this film. Connie Nielsen performs admirably in this film as well.

In his feature film directing debut, Mark Romanek has written and directed a pure psychological thriller masterpiece. From the simple concept of looking at a SavMart like store and coming up with this script, he has shown an amazing talent. This is a director whose films are to be looked out for in the future.

The soundtrack for this film is also quite dead on with every sequence and adds beautifully to the suspenseful nature of the film.

The premise:

Seymour "Sy" Parish (Robin Williams) works at the local SavMart as the photo technician. He's been working there for eleven years and in a large sense he has no life other than his job. During his daily routine at work, he sees everybody's lives, or more succinctly, their more joyful moments, in the pictures they bring in to be developed. Somewhere along the line he has become thoroughly infatuated with one particular family, the Yorkins. Sy even fantasizes about being Uncle Sy in the Yorkin family.

When Sy suddenly suffers a catastrophic event in his life, he essentially flips all the way off of the rocker and what follows from there simply has to be one of the most suspenseful thrillers that this viewer has watched in quite some time.

I highly recommend this film to any and all fans of this genre; it will make an excellent addition to your DVD library and will stand up quite well to multiple viewings. {ssintrepid}

Special Features:

- Writer, Director and Actor Commentary
- "Anatomy of a Scene" Sundance Channel Featurette
- "Making of" Featurette
- "The Charlie Rose Show" Interview with Robin Williams and Mark Romanek
- Theatrical Trailer and TV Spots

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: disruption of order
Review: This is a movie about order and what happens when it is disturbed. It is an unusual but interesting subject matter viewed through the perspective of a voyeuristic photo-processor. We know little about the past of Seymour (played by Robin Williams). We just know that he is a perfectionist manager of a one-hour photo processing unit and he has a fixation on a particular family. The wife/mother of this family takes a lot of pictures of her son, husband and herself. She brings them to Seymour (nicknamed "Sy") for processing. Sy has developed an obsession on this family as a result of what he sees in their pictures. Presumably he sees a world of love, peace, tranquility, order, and stability which is, apparrently, something he has not experienced in his life. We know something is wrong right from the start of the movie because we first meet Sy at the police station where he is being interviewed by a couple of detectives. They want to know why he did what he did. Sy tells the story and we go through the bulk of the movie not knowing what he did. As we learn more about Sy's obsession, we start to get ideas. The movie floats in and out of reality just enough to keep us off balance without confusing us. Throughout the movie there are numerous symbols of order. Perhaps the most obvious symbols of order are the frequent scenes of immacculately stocked shelfs at the "SavMart" where Sy works. There is an abundance of color throughout the movie as well which I presume to be some sort of connection to the photo-processing setting.

Sy eventually discovers trouble in paradise and his world begins to collapse. The order, love and stability turns out to be false and Sy decides that he must punish the transgressor. Let's leave it at that and you can find out for yourself how it ends.

I saw Robin Williams in an earlier movie where he played a serious role. I was not impressed with his preformance then and I was doubtful about what I would find in this movie. I'm happy to say that Williams did a very good job in his role. That's good because his character was 75% of the movie. I'm glad I saw this movie and I reccommend it to others with the stipulation that it had earned its' "R" rating. Although brief, the sexual explicitness is a bit too much for younger audiences.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Beware of the Photo Guy!
Review: Perhaps because I am an amateur photographer, I was very interested in seeing the film One Hour Photo, but missed it in the theatres. For this reason I purchased the DVD as soon as it was released. Though it was not as critically acclaimed a movie as one would expect from a film that stars Robin Williams, it is worth seeing and adding to a DVD or video collection. The premise of the movie, a mild mannered clerk at a photo lab being somewhat psychic seemed like an interesting plot for a movie. The viewer gets the sense that Sy, Robin William's character is someone who has his problems, but at first he seems harmless. There are danger signs about Sy that the viewer quickly sees, but Nina Yorkin, the woman who brings her family photos for Sy to develop, fails to see. This adds a sense of realism since victims are so often the last people to know they are being victimized, even though it is clear to others. Since it is a suspense movie, I am not going to say more about the plot but it is original, and actually quite plausible.

The film's chief strength is the strong cast. Unfortunately there are times the film does not move all that quickly, which can be deadly for a suspense movie, but if viewers watch it to the end, it is worthwhile.

People have joked that after the movie Psycho, people feared taking a shower, and after the film the Birds, people have been afraid of our feathered friends ganging up on us. Could One Hour Photo do the same for photo developing? Should we be fearful of those who make our Kodak moments come to life? I will have to admit, since watching the film I do wonder who actually develops my photos, and I know others who have jokingly asked the same question after viewing this movie. Fortunately I know the people who process most of my pictures somewhat well, so I don't have to worry about truth being stranger than fiction. As for others, watch out who may be handling your most intimate and significant memories!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Scary, Smart and Stylized
Review: I'm a big fan of Mark Romanek's work as a video director. I think he's a lighting genius and his hyper reality style makes the artist look ultra-perfect. Mark bring this artistic style to his directorial debut. Although I'm a big fan of it, I did find it a bit distracting in a movie format. According to the director's commentary on the DVD, his intention was to make the movie somewhat hyper realistic, but everything is just a bit too squeaky clean.

Yet, this fits the story somewhat, in that the characters are somewhat stereotypical. The dialog is fairly good, but in some of the more deeper sections, the dialog is a bit lacking. The relationship between the Mrs. Yorkin (Connie Nielsen) and the Mr. Yorkin (Michael Vartan, of Alias fame) is one of the weaker points of the movie. They simply didn't have much in the way of chemistry and their relationship wasn't clearly established. You know that they have problems in their relationship, but it's vague and un-authentic.

The standout performance has to go to Robin Williams. What was most impressive about his work in this film was his ability to condense himself into such a quiet and contained character. We all know him as this over-the-top extrovert and in this role he is supposed to blend into the background, which he does. When he blows his gasket, which you know he's going to do, you imagination just runs wild. He's such a lonely character in such need for some type of contact that you just feel for him.

Another performance that surprised me was that of Dylan Smith, who plays the Yorkin's son Jake. His role wasn't all that large, but he really did well in it. You could tell he was really listening when he was in scene and he did a lot of small movements, like playing with a toy somewhat distractedly, that just seemed so natural. This was his first role in a movie, but you wouldn't know it from watching him work.

Although the movie is a bit stylized and somewhat sterile in it's storytelling, it's a very engaging movie. That coupled with the lighting and other eye candy is why I gave it 4 stars.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: LEFT ME SAD!
Review: Robin Williams does a top notch job portraying Sy Parris, a photo technician working behind the counter at Sav-Mart.
Sy's life is one of great loneliness and he becomes obsessed
with one family, Nina, Will and young Jake Yorkin. As they
bring their family pictures in to be processed, Sy makes an
extra copy for himself and plasters them all over his walls.
This is a man who desperately wants to be part of a loving,
happy family, even if it is only in his fantasies. He comes
to pieces when he discovers that Will is cheating on his lovely
wife and in doing so also shatters Sy's perfect imaginary world.
This movie was excellent, but left me feeling very sad and
troubled because I am sure there are many Sys out there.
How sad is that? This movie has great acting and a true to life storyline. Robin Williams does an outstanding job!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Clever, Gripping Thriller
Review: The main character in this movie is Seymour "Sy" Parrish, who works behind the photo counter at "SavMart", a vast suburban retail store that is polished and bright. Sy's favorite customers are the Yorkins, which consist of Nina and Will and their son Jake. He lives through them vicariously, because his own life is empty and lonely. His fascination with the Yorkins becomes an obsession, and when they bring in their film, he makes an extra set of prints for himself and wallpapers his apartment with these photos. When his surrogate family turns out to have a few skeletons in the closet, Sy's fantasy world is turned upside down and he doesn't cope well with this unravelling of "his" perfect family.

The performance of Williams is absolutely brilliant, as he seems innocent enough to the customers he serves, yet the audience knows better and sees the creepy, dark persona behind the mask. He reminds me of Jack in the Shining, who appears normal until his wife discovers the novel he is writing is just gibberish. This movie is an intelligent thriller, unlike the typical guy-goes-wacko-and-hunts-people-down type of movies that are a dime a dozen. Sy is a psychological complex character that makes you wonder how he ended up in this isolated life he's built. The movie defines the thriller genre, as there are no slow moments and the audience can't help but be intrigued and be waiting for what comes next.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Robin is a master of his art.
Review: Robin Williams is awesome in this movie. He does a great job protraiting the creepy old lonely character in this movie. This movie kept me in suspense and tense throughout. It's very thrilling and intense as what's going to happen next. Very creepy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great movie!
Review: Alright, I understand if you didn't like this movie, you just didn't like it. But, what really irks me is the fact that one reviewer felt the need to complain about how the shelves we're so neatly organized and how unrealistic it was. Well basically this man needs better things to do.

On To The Movie... I just finished watching this movie. Though I missed the first 15 minutes or so. I found this movie to be a great step for Robin Williams and he proved he wasn't just a one-trick pony. He was very effective in this creepy role. I could feel myself sympathising with Sy and he was just so believable it was just sheer brilliance. The ending was great especially because most people are idiots and they don't like it when someone tries to make them think. All In All I recommend seeing this, rent it first before you buy it, but I found it to be the best movie I've seen in a while and I hate movies.


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