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One Hour Photo (2002)
As a fan of Robin Williams, I was looking forward to One Hour Photo. Following his recent career trend, this marked his third descent into the dark side after Death to Smoochy and Insomnia. Despite mixed reviews, the film is generating Oscar buzz for what is called, William's tour de force performance.
I was fortunate enough to snag a pass to the premiere. Knowing how crowded these things can get, I showed up early just to line up and get in on that 45-minute wait, and I got a great seat mere inches away from the screen. Then I was treated to 15 minutes of big screen commercial advertisements, before the hosts of the evening finally showed to tell us about the wonderful companies who were sponsoring this event. They passed around pamphlets filled with, you guessed it, more ads, and then they mentioned that the distribution company was offering a goody bag associated with the film. Anyone who's been to one of these premieres will tell you that this is the best part, snagging some free loot. The lucky winners would get a tote bag, a book by Deepak Chopra, and a disposable camera. Tonight, I doubled my chances. I took out my ticket stub and some other shmuck's I picked up from the floor (sorry bub, you snooze, you lose). I could feel it was my night. They called out the first number. Nope. Then number two. Not yet. Okay, here came lucky number three. Damn it! The guy next to me stepped on my toes on the way to get his tote bag. Finally they dimmed the lights and rolled the film. The rest of my evening went downhill from there on.
The opening shot is chilling, with stark blinding whites, and an extreme close up of what slowly turns out to be a camera pointed directly at the viewer. One Hour Photo begins with Williams under the custody of the 'threat management' authorities. He's questioned about a folder filled with photographs that he desperately wants to see. The pictures are a promise of violence that he's warned could be used against him.
We learn in flashback that Williams is 'Sy the photo guy,' the lab technician who develops pictures at the local Savmart. Although Savmart is a large and cold place, Sy has a warm smile for everyone. Short for Seymour (see more, cute), Sy is dedicated to his work and treats each and every photograph like they were his very own. In the case of the Yorkins, he actually believes it's true. Having developed their pictures for years, he has created a fantasy where he is 'Uncle Sy,' the beloved uncle, supportive friend, and kindly mentor. Sad and alone, it's an imaginary role he relishes until something threatens his perfect dream and sets him on a dangerous course of action.
Written and directed by Mark Romanek, One Hour Photo plays on the fears of the audience, toying with themes such as voyeurism and mass consumerism. There are a few good scenes and a strong sense of mood and atmosphere, but coupled with a banal script, the film never comes together as a satisfying whole. Ultimately, despite a fine performance from Williams, the film is just plain boring.
Part of the problem is that the characters are as two-dimensional and lifelike as cheap photo paper. I suppose if I was a sad sack of a human being, then I, too might find the Yorkins idyllic lifestyle appealing, but as it is, this bitter old soul finds them shallow and annoying. Composed of Will Yorkin (Michael Vartan from television's Alias), Nina Yorkin (Gladiator's Connie Nielson) and their son, Jake (Dylan Smith). One minute they're the Brady Bunch looking over family pictures, and the next they're hurling such character-defining taglines, as "You can't keep on spending money like this. You want our lives to look like something out of a magazine, well I have to work," and "You're neglectful. You're never here." (Deep stuff.)
The characters never become real people, merely puppets doing what the script requires. Jake's relationship with 'Uncle Sy' is perfunctory and unconvincing. In one scene, Jake shares almost no dialogue with Sy to the point where I think he's mute, then in the next he can't sleep because he's too busy doing the sensitive kid routine from Lassie. In a cringe inducing, audience guffawing bit, he tells mommy that he feels sad for 'Sy the photo guy' and together they wish Sy some Tinkerbell happiness as he is tucked into bed.
When Sy overhears Jake being told to stay away from him because he's a stranger, Sy's first move is to show up unexpectedly at Jake's baseball game and to give the kid an expensive toy (at least he knows what an Evangelion figure is). If Sy wasn't a stalker, the golden-hued scene might even be sweet, but his attempt to buy the boy's affection is just depressing. Jake refuses the gift, but it doesn't seem to occur to anyone that this would have made for interesting dinner conversation. A stranger tried to give me an expensive gift today. Just say no. I did. Good job son. Oh well.
There are a few eerie moments in the film, including a shocking visual that most will find gory, but photography buffs who hate red-eye will find amusing. Also, anyone who's ever worried about a stranger entering their home will be nervous when Sy breaks in to the Yorkin's house and makes himself comfortable. As he slowly explores their rooms, he violates any sense of privacy and security people may have. A good set up that is played for both creeps and laughs, but the pay off is so laboriously obvious that any tension built up until now is lost (for those who don't see where this scene is going from a million miles away, welcome to your first Hollywood thriller. There's plenty more formula where this came from).
Those who fear monolithic corporations will appreciate Walmart- whoops, I mean Savmart being presented as an overpowering blue and white monstrosity. Droning sound design and Jeff Cronenweth's harsh cinematography gives it a character that even it's flesh and blood co-stars can't match. With Michael Manson's excellent art direction, the store's bleak colours are complimented with hilarious little signs espousing employee-only mantra's such as 'check your smile' and 'without the customer we are nothing.' The social commentary basically contends that while consumers may fear the zombification of their neighbourhoods, they still can't stop eagerly line up to save two-cents on toilet paper.
The meat of the film then rests on Williams' shoulder. Lacking the cool detachment of Kevin Spacey's killer in Seven or the comic book super-villainy of Hannibal Lector, Williams infuses Seymour Parrish with a genuine sense of humanity (it's nice to see him wearing glasses with real lenses in them at his age). As a stalker, he has the requisite soft-spoken and seemingly harmless demeanour, not to mention the disturbing picture-wall shrine, but there is also a sad, everyman quality about him that is both pitiful and fascinating to watch.
Williams gives a solid performance, but as a character study, the film falls short. There's nowhere, dramatically for his character to go. Upon finding his illusion shattered, Sy takes the step from voyeur to participant, but the outcome of his action is so unexpected that he yells out in exasperation, "What is the matter with you people!" It is very funny and ironic, and is one of the best moments in the film, but the rest of the movie devolves into standard thriller where his actions make little sense.
Upset by the Yorkins, Sy turns around to threaten his Savmart boss for no apparent reason other than to set a pair of TV cops on his trail. Then the film flips back and forth between Sy tracking down Will Yorkin, and the cops trying to stop him. Will they make it in time? The humdrum cat and mouse game finishes in pursuit with generic chase music trying its best to pump up the action, but seeing as how the film starts with William already in custody, there's no question as to how it will end, rendering the whole sequence pointless.
And indeed that is what is fundamentally wrong with this picture. Nothing ever really happens, the characters don't actually do much of anything, and the film offers no insights on the themes it touches. Some have compared this to Michael Powell's Peeping Tom, but where that film was an exploration of a disturbed mind and a critique on the whole culture of voyeurism itself, this only offers a pathetic man who doesn't happen have a life, and is depressingly all to common. Sy even goes out of his way to give the audience a pat little speech about his motivation that comes right out of left field (and for those who find William's final soliloquy to be anything more than pop psychology, welcome to Psyc 101). While I won't give away the 'twist ending,' the pictures in the folder at the beginning of the film are not at all what you would expect. Just not necessarily in good way (and does beg question, what was all the fuss about?).
Marketed as a thriller, One Hour Photo is really more of an unsuccessful black comedy. Less Peeping Tom or Peter Lorre in M, and more What About Bob or Jim Carrey's The Cable Guy. Those hoping for a follow up to William's Insomnia will be disappointed to find what basically amounts to a mediocre TV movie. I can't even figure out why it's rated 'R.' Currently in limited release from Fox Searchlight Pictures, and recommended for die-hard Robin William's fans who might welcome a subdued performance from the manic comedian, that doesn't have him running around mugging the camera like a crazy person.
Now seeing as how I'm not going to get my two hours of life back, I'm going to see if I can track down one of those tote bags, at least they looked useful. On the other hand if I still want to see a good movie, I heard Lilo and Stitch playing over on the next screen...
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