One Hour Photo

Robin Williams starred in a psychological thriller in 2002 called One Hour Photo. Written and directed by Mark Romanek, it also starred Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan, Gary Cole and Eriq La Salle. The film grossed $52 million and Williams won a Saturn Award for his acting.

Seymour “Sy” Parrish (Williams) works in the photo center of a department store. A solitary person who leads a boring life, he becomes obsessed with the Yorkin family (Nielsen, Vartan, and Dylan Smith) and tries to interject himself into their lives. After learning the father is having an affair, he gets ven more involved.

One Hour Photo is quite the bizarre and disturbing film. It has great cinematography that really shows how Sy sees his world and the acting is so different for a Williams film that it’s easy to forget that it’s actually him.

The film has great cinematography that really shows up in how the film is lit. Since Sy is not all there and unhinged, all of his scenes look underdeveloped with a cold tinge. On the other hand, the scenes with the Yorkins are developed well with a bright and warm tinge. It’s a good juxtaposition to show how different their existences are. The department store was also given a bright, but non-glaring light that creates a heavenly glow, showing how that’s the fantasy he build up seeing their photographs, the Yorkins’ home is given a more earthly feel to make it more of a home and Sy’s apartment is dimly lit, made to portray that he feels his lonely existence is his personal hell.

The film is differently acted than most Williams films. Nowhere is he upbeat, happy or positive. Instead he’s completely sullen so much that it’s quite disturbing. Jack Nicholson was originally offered the role, which makes sense as it very much feels like a role he would do. One can almost forget that it is Williams too, considering the roles he usually plays.

It’s hard to like One Hour Photo, in fact, it can be very uncomfortable to watch. But it isn’t hard to see that it’s a good film.