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One Hour Photo
2002
Viewed through family photographs, it would seem most people live joyous, leisurely lives. Sy Parrish (Robin Williams), who makes this observation, adversely leads a lonely existence, operating a photo lab in a SavMart department store. To escape his dreary reality, he fixates on the photos of Nancy Yorkin (Connie Nielsen) and .. Read more
| Starring | Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Erin Daniels, Michael Vartan |
|---|---|
| Director | Mark Romanek |
| Genres | Thriller |
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One Hour Photo
Viewed through family photographs, it would seem most people live joyous, leisurely lives. Sy Parrish (Robin Williams), who makes this observation, adversely leads a lonely existence, operating a photo lab in a SavMart department store. To escape his dreary reality, he fixates on the photos of Nancy Yorkin (Connie Nielsen) and her family. But Sy's admiration of the Yorkins soon becomes an unhealthy obsession, impairing his judgment and causing him to lose his job of 11 years. As his final day approaches, Sy discovers photographs revealing an indiscretion on the part of Mr. Yorkin (Michael Vartan), and the now unstable technician develops a disturbing, calculated plan to instill his own idea of family values to the Yorkin clan.
Much of ONE HOUR PHOTO takes place inside a Walmart-like department store bordered in an icy blue. This cold atmosphere creates a solitary framework for the disturbed photo developer Sy Parrish, played with a melancholic detachment by Williams, working here against type. Director Mark Romanek (STATIC) has created a thriller with little violence, instead focusing on the uncomfortable fear emanating from its damaged protagonist.
| Starring | Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Erin Daniels, Michael Vartan, Gary Cole, Dylan Smith, Eriq La Salle |
|---|---|
| Director | Mark Romanek |
| Studio | 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 31 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Thriller |
| Language | English |
| Released | DVD: 31 Mar 2003 Production year: 2002 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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Following his understated role in Insomnia, funnyman Robin Williams put in another exquisitely straight performance in this psychological thriller. Almost unrecognisable behind a receding hairline and glasses, he is hauntingly moving as supermarket photo processor Sy Parrish, whose lonely existence feeds an escalating obsession with a glamorous local family. A simple yet effective reflection on modern society's fixation with so-called flawless lifestyles, it's meticulously composed and tautly executed. Each frame of this unnerving chiller is a visually stunning snapshot of an innocent world distorted by human complexities. Director Mark Romanek draws on his music video background of storytelling through imagery, by applying varying degrees of colour and contrast to reflect the positive and negative emotions on display. This slick technique adds extra force to Williams's remarkable turn, while padding out the occasionally stilted supporting roles. The result is a startling and deeply atmospheric film, made all the more powerful by its unexpected climax.
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Creepy thriller of a voyeur that gets tightly contained performance from Williams as a man going over the edge of madness; the meticolous use of colour and space adds to its chilling quality.
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Most helpful member's review
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15 out of 17 people found this review helpful
Flash, Bang, What a picture
Robin Williams takes his acting into a very different and very enthralling direction.
His character at first appears to be a quiet, inoffensive man who happens to work in a photo-lab in a mall.
As the story develops (no pun intended) you find out that everything is not as it seems.
There are many moments in the film when Willliams pumps up the creepiness rating to five stars. I won't give away any of the story, but i recommend you rent this film immediately.
Even if you don't like Williams you should find yourself drawn into the story so much that you forget it is him, especially as the character of Parrish seems to blend into the background of the mall at times, which is in no way a criticism. -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
If your experience of Robin Williams is Jumanji, Aladdin or Mrs Doubtfire then boy will this film shake you. There are shades of this performance in the darker parts of Good Morning Vietnam & The Dead Poets Society, and it's a cracking performance. Sy Parish (why Parish again?) is the total urban werdio who could be in the flat next door. No blood, no gore but scary and absorbing in a Silence of the Lambs way. The final explaination of why he does what he does is a little contrived but that doesn't spoil your entertainment of watching him do it. If this movie doesn't make you go digital nothing will!
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News and features
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Benicio Del Toro set to play The Wolfman
- 08 Feb 2007
Benicio Del Toro is to star in a remake of 1941's lycanthropic classic The Wolfman, as the central character who gets bitten by a werewolf and soon finds himself very hairy during a full moon. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Mark Romanek has signed on to direct the film, having previously helmed the psychological thriller One Hour Photo, which starred Robin Williams as an obsessive loner who stalks a suburban family. Romanek is widely known for his work on seminal music videos for artists... Read more
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Viewed through family photographs, it would seem most people live joyous, leisurely lives. Sy Parrish (Robin Williams), who makes this observation, adversely leads a lonely existence, operating a ... -