Flickering Opinions: One Hour Photo

A lot of people have said a lot of things about this film. Some people thought it was boring and others thought that it was pretentious crap. I usually find that a lot of people are idiots, so I understand these outlooks. I don't agree with them, but I understand them.

One Hour Photo is the sad twisted tale of Sy the Photo Guy, Seymour Parrish. Sy is your average work-a-day Joe, whiling away his hours at the photo lab of the local SavMart, which you can figure from the name is a generic Wal-Mart/Kmart kind of place. He is good at his job and takes pride in it. When his mini-lab shows a .03 blue shift, Sy calls the repairman. He's dedicated. He believes his job to be important. And he's right. What is the number one item that people try to save when their houses are on fire? Family photos. But we don't think about the photo guy. We don't realize that he sees all of our most intimate moments. He is privy to our happiest times. Birthdays, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, births. Our lives captured on film.

Sy has been working the counter at the photo lab for 11 years or more. When Nina Yorkin dropped off the first photos of her new baby, Sy developed them. Over the years as the boy grew and more birthdays were had, more photos were developed. Sy has developed an imagined connection to the Yorkin family. His obsession takes him beyond just being Sy the Photo Guy. He begins to think of himself as Uncle Sy.

The plot spirals out slowly as Sy's insanity grows. He begins following Nina and her son Jakob around. He goes to Jakob's soccer practice and tries to bring him a gift (A Neon Genesis Evangelion action figure whose presence is my only problem with the movie for reasons that would be obvious to any fan of the Eva series). The movie is shot beautifully and Sy's environments and wardrobe have a distinct tendency to blend, making Sy look almost like part of the scenery instead of an individual. He gets lost in the world. It's a great method of character development falling under the "Show me don't tell me" school of storytelling. It also shows how Sy fits in while still being a complete outsider.

The performances turned in by all of the actors are top notch and accolades are in order for Robin Williams in particular, who manages to turn in a very dark and disturbing performance unlike anything he has ever done before. I can somewhat understand why some people didn't like this film, but for the most part I think it was a case of getting what you wish for only to find you didn't really want it at all. So many people deride large films like Lord of the Rings or what have you for being just big effects films and say they want character, they want story (I, of course, think LOTR has plenty of character and story, but that's me). When they are then presented with just those things, they shy away from them.

See this film. Watch for the little nuances. Enjoy it for the wonderful little film that it is. Then the next time that you see someone like Sy, you may find yourself wondering what he or she might really be thinking. The photo guy. The school janitor. The guy behind the counter at any store you frequent.

DVD Details:

A crisp transfer with good color. The Widescreen looks good and the sound is excellent unless you're listening with a mono system. The surround sound is damn good though.

Special Features
Commentary with Director Mark Romanek and Robin Williams
Cinemax Making of Featurette
Charlie Rose Interview with Mark Romanek and Robin Williams
Sundance Anatomy of a Scene
Trailers for One Hour Photo and The Dancer Upstairs
And a few other little things.

Further Information:

Internet Movie Database