One Hour Photo (Widescreen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Suprised, mesmerized
Review: When I saw the reviews for this film, I thought it was too good to be true. I was very hesitant and skeptical about seeing it. I thought, how could Robin Williams, the always-smiling man who played the ever-go-lucky, lovable and happy "Mork", portray a depressed,lonely, obsessive and psychotic photo developer? Easy, he did a superb job, and I was surprised and disappointed that he did not get more recogniton for his work in this movie.

"Sy" is the knowledgeable and skilled photo finisher at the local "Sav-Mart", which we all know of course, is Wal-Mart. Sy, a chronic loner, is enthralled with a young, and successful local couple and their bright and happy boy. Sy seems to know every intricate detail of their lives as a result of processing their photos for a number of years, which eventually evolves into a sick, morbid obsession. Sy even forms the ability to even become a part of their lives in absentia, thus compensating for his own lonliness. The two party's lives are indeed at opposite ends of the spectrum. The couple leads a busy, progressive and contemporary life, while sy leads a predicatable and abysmal existance in a small apartment. We are then presented with "Sy's Wall", a creepy collection of the family's photos from the time the kid was a newborn to the present.
Sy desperately tries to be an "uncle" to the boy, and while many may perceive this as him being a pedophile, I don't think this was the intention. However, some scenes, especially when Sy meets the kid at the park, does make your skin crawl.
When Sy finds out that Mr. ___ is unfaithful, he goes on a campaign to let Mrs.____ know, and when she does, he witnesses the reaction from afar, and then gets "revenge" on Mr.____ and his lover by confronting them during a tryst. I don't know whether Sy wanted to break the family up, or sought to avenge Mrs. ____'s devastation over her husband's infidelity. The movie climaxes with Sy running from the law, and eventually getting caught. A definite must see, especially for those of you who haven't seen Robin Williams play a "bad guy".

Rating:
Summary: A Very Dark and Depressing Film
Review: As you probably already know, this film is about a severely depressed and lonely man who, as a photo lab technician, forms an unhealthy attachment to a family he develops film for. Not having any friends or family, he fascinates about being a part of their family. Robin Williams does a very impressive job of playing this lead character. The problem is, he almost does too good of a job. Over the course of the film, as his mental state deteriorates from harmlessly eccentric to dangerously obsessive, you begin to feel incredibly sorry for him. At the same time, you find yourself sinking into a depressed state. This is one of the darkest films I've ever seen and takes the viewer into the lowest regions of a mentally ill man's soul. Unfortunately, it is one of the most depressing films I've ever seen as a result. And I have to give credit to the creators of the film for pulling off such an endeavor. Not many films can have that kind of emotional impact on a viewer. But when I see a movie, I like to be entertained, uplifted, or inspired in some way. This film will only bring you down.

Rating:
Summary: absolutely pathetic
Review: This is one of the worst movies I have ever wasted my time on. I don't mind suspending my belief in reality for a few hours while watching a movie... in fact, I enjoy it. But there was no way to suspend as much reality as this film asks you to. The idea that the police would expend all of the manpower and energy on what was (at the time they were first called in) not even a crime, is almost funny. Well, it would have been funny if it wouldn't have just gotten worse and worse. To even mention the film "Taxi Driver" in the same review as this movie is an insult. Don't waste your money or your time with this one. It was awful.

Rating:
Summary: Robin Williams proves to be a versatile actor.
Review: Robin Williams is awesome and should have recieved Academy Award consideration for this role. His character gave me shivers just thinking about it. The movie is a case study of how loneliness can be a crutch for those who do not get help.

Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking.
Review: This movie had me absolutely mezmerized from start to finish. The film really gets you thinking about that percentage of people out there who have experianced some serious trauma in there life, and could go off the deep end at any time. It might be your friend, it might be a neighbor and sure, why not the one hour photo guy.
Robin Williams shocked me with his superb preformance as a friendly mild mannered man who is harboring something dark and horriable inside. You watch Williams as his sanity gradually goes south and he can't keep his past from influencing his actions. The cinematography in the film is very artfully done, remanicent of Stanely Kubrick's style. One Hour Photo gives Scorsese's Taxi Driver a run for it's money. I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most impressive intellectual thrillers in years
Review: Robin Williams gives an Oscar-worthy performance as the lonely, somewhat creepy, but wholly sympathetic Sy Parrish in this haunting, compelling directorial debut by Mark Romanek. Some have called this a scary movie, but One Hour Photo works on emotional levels much deeper than fear and disquiet. This is an intellectual thriller that at times borders on a work of art, a carefully constructed exploration of the depths to which loneliness and bland ordinariness can drive a man. Everyone reacts to this movie differently; by design, a sense of moral ambiguity pervades the story and its presentation. Many may see Sy Parrish as a bad guy (though certainly not a stereotypical one); those lucky enough to never know the hopelessness and loneliness this man endures or to experience the devastation of seeing your whole world pulled out from under your feet may look down their noses at him with denigration, not truly understanding his afflictions. Most of us, though, know what utter loneliness feels like to some degree, and I can't help but believe that most viewers will feel a connection to Sy Parrish that differs markedly from what they might anticipate going in. If you ask me, there is a bad guy in this film, but it is not Sy Parrish.

Sy Parrish's job means everything to him; as a photo developer at a large retail store, he develops customers' pictures with great care and professionalism. Outside of his photo development domain, he is bland and invisible, a man truly alone. His life could not be more different from the lives he sees day by day in the pictures he develops - in the pictures of happy families, he sees everything he wants but cannot have. Thus, it almost seems natural that he would begin to fantasize about being a part of such a life, to have a family of his own. His favorite family is the Yorkins, a seemingly perfect young couple with one son. Nina Yorkin (Connie Nielsen) is one of Sy's best customers; she's always bringing in pictures to be developed. Having watched the Yorkin family evolve over a number of years, Sy has adopted them as his own, making his own copies of all their pictures. He knows Nina, her husband Will (Michael Vartan), and son Jake (Dylan Smith) intimately through their photos; he knows where they live, what their house is like, and all sorts of additional personal details about them. In his own mind, he is Uncle Sy to Jake, and he tries to insinuate himself into the Yorkins' lives at just the time his own real life is beginning to fragment. His job is no longer secure, and it is during this troubled time that he discovers that the Yorkins are not the ideal family after all. That discovery is just more than he can take.

This is not the kind of role you associate with Robin Williams, but there can be no doubt that this man is among the most accomplished of actors. All of the natural energy Williams suppresses in his transformation to the externally calm, quiet, rather forgettable Sy Parrish lends his performance a power that few other actors could bring to such a role. Writer and director Mark Romanek gave Williams a completely different look, and the set design and cinematography reinforces that directorial vision to lend the movie a sense of hyperreality that proves as unsettling as Sy's descent into mental disconnection. The acting is superb all the way around, but Williams clearly steals the show with one of the most impressive performances I've seen in a long time.

Topped off by a writer/director/actor commentary, a really well-made behind-the-scenes featurette, an "Anatomy of a Scene" Sundance Channel Featurette, and an extensive interview with Robin Williams and Mark Romanek on The Charlie Rose Show, One Hour Photo easily qualifies as a must-own DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Dark, involving, challenging
Review: I was never a great fan of Robin Williams as a comedian, but he has proved himself a great actor time and again, including in this superior psychological thriller. As "Sy the Photo-Guy", Williams is as chilling as he is sympathetic.

For the most part, director Romanek eschews predictability and takes us on an ambiguous journey that challenges us and involves us on every level rather than presenting an easy, black-and-white universe that cues us to gasp or scream in the appropriate places. This is a tale told with a great stylistic flair that fleshes out rather than detracts from the thematic material. Certainly this will come to be regarded as something of a minor classic in years to come.

Rating:
Summary: INTRIGUING AND INTELLIGENT THRILLER...
Review: This is a superlative thriller and one of the best in the genre, with a bravura performance by Robin Williams as a somewhat unhinged photo technician. Deftly directed by Mark Romanek, who has an eye for detail and an understanding that less is sometimes more, it is simply one of the best films released in 2002.

The plot line seems simple. Sy Parrish (Robin Williams) is an exacting photo technician in a large, squeaky clean and bright, well stocked, discount mall type store. A lonely, middle-aged man, he seems to fade into the background. He is the type of person of whom others are apt to take little notice. Polite and pleasant, he is seemingly inoffensive, yet, always a beat off. He also has one little foible. He has become obsessed with the Yorkin family.

The Yorkins are customers of his for whom he develops photographs. He has been developing their photos for years and has seen most of their cherished moments, participating in them vicariously. It is as if Nina, Will, and their young son, Jake, have become his family, only the Yorkins haven't a clue about Sy's secret obsession. When Sy becomes aware that the sanctity of his secret, picture perfect family is endangered, he becomes the avenging angel, setting into motion a series of events that reveal his own deepest, darkest secret.

Robin Williams is absolutely sensational as Sy, the photo guy. He transforms himself, as if he were a chameleon. His performance is brilliant and well nuanced. As strange as Sy may seem at times, the viewer cannot help but like and pity him, even when he is at his weirdest. Sy's palpable longing to be a part of the Yorkin family is heartbreaking. Though most of his interaction is with Connie and Jake, as they are the ones who bring in the family photos to be developed, when Will comes to the store one day, Sy immediately recognizes him from the photos. Sy introduces himself to the surprised Will, asking after his family and complimenting Will on his home, a place in which Sy has never been a guest. It is all slightly creepy, adding to the mounting tension in the film. Robin Williams plays the role of Sy to great effect, making the most of each and every moment that he is on screen. He is the quintessential lonely man, so isolated and alienated from those around him that any of his attempts at interaction with others is always a beat off.

Connie Nielsen is luminous as Nina Yorkin, a woman who is always pleasant to Sy and brightens his day every time she and Jake walk in the store to have photos developed. She is a woman whose beaming countenance belies the knowledge that there is something wrong with her marriage. There is a canker taking hold of her suburban home, eating away at the core of her family, only she cannot get Will to discuss it rationally with her. She does not know what is wrong, only that there is definitely something amiss, although all will, ultimately, be made clear to her.

Michael Vartan is excellent as Will Yorkin, the good looking, though slightly unlikable, husband. Dylan Smith gives a sweet performance as Jake Yorkin. Erin Daniels is perfectly cast as Maya, a woman for whom Sy also develops photos. Eriq La Salle is very good as the sensitive Detective Van Der Zee. Gary Cole is terrific as the high energy store manager who gets on Sy's case about a number of issues that are coming to light in connection with the seemingly placid Sy. This is a solid cast that contributes to the overall success of this interesting and quirky film.

The sets are also used most effectively. The bright, almost bleached, starkness of the huge store set is a perfect setting for Sy, as he almost melds into the background, at times, as if he were disappearing. Only his bright blue store vest saves him from total obscurity. This is fraught with meaning, as it is his job that helps to keep Sy grounded. The Yorkin home is filled with earth tones, giving a homey, cozy glow, enshrouding the family in a haze of warmth. Sy's own apartment is a sterile, ugly environment. There is nothing cozy about it. The only real sign that someone may actually live there are the photographs of the Yorkins that are displayed for all the world to see.

Moreover, just when one thinks one has it all figured out, there are more surprises to come. This is simply a brilliant film on many fronts. The direction, Robin Williams' performance, the sets, the restrained, low key, tension building approach, and the twist in the ending, all contribute to making this a film to add to one's collection. Bravo!