One Hour Photo (Review)
Michael Scott
Looks like a good representation of the mentally ill to me!
In film and in entertainment in general, mentally ill people (villains specifically) are often depicted as either murderers, pedophiles, or rapists. The entertainment industry is very predictable when it comes to showing a psychopathic individual.
They're machete wielding killers like Jason Voorhees, manipulative cannibals like Hannibal Lecter, or a self-aggrandizing pedophile like Humbert. Rarely do we see a mentally ill villain who does not fall into one of these categories.
But One Hour Photo is an exception.
Warning, the rest of this review will contain major spoilers for the movie. The spoiler-free review is this... One Hour Photo is a good, short, and original thriller starring the late Robin Williams in one of his best roles. Go see it.
Spoilers start here.
One Hour Photo's main character and antagonist, a rare combination, is Sy the photo guy. He loves his job at the photo counter in a drug-store and really goes above and beyond for his customers whom he knows by name.
But he's slipping.
It's never quite said outright what's wrong with Sy, and plot-wise it's pretty irrelevant. All the audience knows is that Sy is falling deeper and deeper into an obsession with one of his regular customers, a woman and her son.
But this is where the movie does something novel. Instead of wanting to kill her, or be with her he just wants to be apart of their family. Husband included. He sees the most personal details of their life from honeymoon to pregnancy to birthdays all through the photos he develops for them. He knows what the inside of their house is like, and what kinds of toys her son likes. He even knows where they live, a side effect of taking their personal information for the photo prints. He stares into photos and imagines himself there with them. But his lack of focus has made his boss frustrated with him. Eventually, he's let go and on his last day he's completing one final development for his favorite customer when he discovers that the husband is unfaithful and this drives him over the edge.
He's not upset for them, he's upset that his little secret has been soiled. His dollhouse which could visit anytime he wanted has been tainted. It's no longer perfect anymore. And now that he's unemployed, he has nothing to live for.
I won't walk you guys through the final act of the film, but suffice it to say, it was different. Sy just wants things to be put back the way they were and as a mentally ill person he can't quite figure out that the genie isn't going to go back in the bottle.
It's a great character study, even if it's not an entirely great movie. The dream sequences that dot the movie are mostly uncalled for. They add little more than shock value to an already great set-up.
I've spoiled it almost completely at this point, but I still recommend it highly. If you consider yourself a fan of thrillers or of Robin WIlliams, it's a must see.