From now on, I'm taking my pictures with a digital camera.

I never did understand why people said they were afraid of taking showers after seeing the original Psycho, or that they were afraid to swim in the ocean after Jaws. Their fears came off as exaggerated reactions to mere movies. But after seeing Mark Romanek's One Hour Photo, I now know where they were coming from.

Sy Parrish (Robin Williams) is the middle-aged manager of the photo-printing department of SavMart, a large Wal-Mart-like emporium. He is a devoted perfectionist, providing service to the inhabitants of this insular community, but he lives a rather lonely existence, eating his meals in the local coffee shops and going home to a nearly bare apartment.

However, Sy harbors a secret fantasy. Having developed the pictures of the Yorkins-Nina (Connie Nielsen), her husband Will (Michael Vartan) and their son Jake (Dylan Smith)- for years, he has begun to see himself as part of the family: "Uncle" Sy, who buys toys for Jake and awaits their homecoming while sitting on their couch. Eventually the fantasy begins to blur with reality, and Sy's projection into the Yorkins' life prompts a demand for order and harmony that leads inexorably to calamity.

Sy is a man who, on the surface, leads a simple, routine life. But beneath the retail-forced smile and polite counter conversation lies an individual who is a ticking time bomb capable of becoming your worst nightmare with the slightest push. Romanek, a former music video director, has captured a terrific, intense atmosphere (perfectly shot by Jeff Cronenweth) out of the minimalist sets and locations that is backed by his screenplay rich in detailing its main character.

All of that detail and atmosphere would be for naught if Robin Williams were not in the lead role. Sy could almost be seen as a distant relative to the murdering novelist he played in Insomnia. Williams, as he did in that film, vanishes into his character, making it very easy for the viewer to forget whom we're watching onscreen. He's created a character that we fear, despise and pity. Few in Hollywood could pull off this type of delicate balancing act but Williams does it and makes it look very easy in the process. He receives excellent support from Nielsen, Vartan and Smith as the Yorkins, Gary Cole (Office Space) as Sy's jerk of a boss and Eric La Salle in a small role as a police detective.

One Hour Photo is a thriller of the best kind: one respectful of the viewer's imagination and intelligence. By not showing us or spelling out everything for us, Romanek and Williams have made a believable chiller that haunts you for quite some time afterwards.

  share:  Facebook | Digg | del.icio.us | more