1.85:1 Widescreen

Well, the era of mass market “indie” films is upon us. In spite of its manufactured artfulness, "One Hour Photo" does have appeal: Robin Williams portrays a stereotypical damaged post-modernist psychopath with a flourish of reality that does him credit as an actor, and writer/director Mark Romanek is a fresh face on the Hollywood scene. Supporting cast Paul Kim and David Moreland step out of Wal-Mart and onto the screen – spectacular characterizations. Connie Neilsen and Michael Vartan, however, give at best stilted ...erformances as the objects of Robin William’s obsession. Which brings us to a synopsis…

Robin Williams plays “Sy the photo guy,” who is a “SavMart” employee that’s developed an unhealthy obsession with a particular family whose film he develops. Without spoiling the film, Sy ends up seeking to exact justice on the father, attempts to befriend the child, and generally goes nuts as I’ve always expected someone at a big box discount retailer to eventually do. The upshot is that a creative premise (the photo guy doing arm’s length stalking) is bludgeoned to death by a screen play that leaves little to the imagination, and plot twists that are so “done” and clichéd as to completely erase any credibility the movie had. The film is worth seeing for Robin William’s work – he is fantastic at humanizing Sy in sad and pitiful ways, and its one of the film’s greatest ironies that damaged Sy is the must “human” thing among the sterile ranks of SavMart.