One Hour Photo Reviews

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.

[Highly rated reviewer]

A Picture Of Guilt

This film is a little reminiscent of Peeping Tom, the excellent fifties chiller. When a film allows the viewer to have sympathy with the sad spooky villain of the piece, one knows that the film will be worth watching. The atmosphere and feeling of the film makes you feel as if you’re struggling for breath. The claustrophobic life of the photo guy in the wide aisles of the store in which he works only highlights his desperate attempts to be part of the world around him, while still being an outsider.

A well acted film with plenty of suspense. A little classic of a film. Oh the loneliness of it all.

This is Mark Romanek's first big movie and shows talent we can expect more

from.

The premise of the film is that the 1 hour photo technician at the SavMart

complex lives down town and has no family, but in his job (which he has

taken a pride in doing well for twenty years) he sees the captured moments

of happy suburban family life that he can only dream about. The film is

created from this starting concept as a psychological thriller, but one in

which you are involved, as the direction and acting cleverly steer down

the middle of a line. Some characters are clearly likeable and some

clearly not, but the main character is not forced one way or the other by

the film. You decide for yourself whether the motives and actions arising

from them were good or bad, justified or unjustified, supportive or

destructive. Another of those films that you come away from having

enjoyed, but with plenty to ruminate on.

Superb director brings it all together

For his wonderfully disciplined performance Robin Williams is generously praised.

But one wonders how much of it is the creation of director Mark Romanek. I think the answer is a lot and for evidence of that, observe his firm but sensitive control of all components throughout the film -- the stylised sets, the spot lighting and camera angles, the muted colours, unexpected silences and lingering reaction shots.

All those components and more are beautifully orchestrated with each cast member's performance

The director's presence is never intrusive but Mark Romanek has created a satisfyingly disturbing movie while giving his actors ample space to breathe and develop.

This isn't a stalker movie. Don't expect to be frightened, but you will feel anxious.

A great little film from Sundance

This is what happens when an idea is allowed to mature without the talentless money men (& possibly women) of the industry getting their grubby hands all over it. One Hour Photo is a sharp vignette of loneliness taken to the extreme, keeping us engaged, switching sympathies from the victim to perpetrator, and blurring the distinction. Thankfully there are no caricature police to spoil things in this one. Not a blockbuster, just a good little drama, which keeps the premise alive; 'can you imagine yourself in their shoes?'. And yes, you can definitely imagine being the family, or the police, and many could conceivably imagine being the Robin Williams character - and how many of us have given in a film for processing and wondered if any notice would be taken of our lives on film?

unexpectedly excellent

I normally would never watch a Robin Williams film, having overdosed on saccharine sweet or clowning. HOWEVER.... this is a truly excellent film. It owes a lot to the director and his vision of a slightly 'hyper' real world - all the supermarkets whiter than white and the 'perfect' house completely coordinated. That and the wardrobe department: Williams is almost chameleon like in his ability to disappear into the background.

Williams' understated acting and minimal facial expression go a long way to making an anti hero who really should be repugnant into a man you both believe in and feel sorry for.

What is also entertaining is the DVD extra about making the film where you see Williams letting off steam between each buttoned down take!

EXCELLENT FILM! Wow what an actor Robin Williams is! Totally believable as a lonely pathetic middle aged man who just happens to have stalked a family for nearly 10 years.No gore, hardly a swear word, no horror, yet terrifying! Just shows you do not have to load a film with blood and gore to sell it (and I usually love blood and gore!).

Robin Williams in sinister role, most definetly not Mrs Doubtfire, you wont take your pictures in to be processed ever again after watching this movie, enjoyable but sinister

A gripping thriller, that makes you feel sympathetic towards the slightly psychotic character, Sy

Parrish (Robin Williams). Williams plays the part very well and his monologues about photography

convey his obsession with his job in the photo lab perfectly. At first Sy?s fixation with the Yorkin

family seems reasonably innocent, but as the film unfolds you realise it is becoming an obsession,

and his behaviour becomes more unpredictable and sinister. To top it all the ending has a

small twist. If you like a good thiller that avoids the genre?s clich?s, you won?t find better than this. 8/

10.

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!