... "One Hour Photo" shows us Robin Williams in this light too, in a deep, thoughtful and disturbing role and for the first time we see him as the villain rather than as the good guy, though thinks are not as straight forward as that makes it sound. This film eradicates any doubts about his ability ... Read review
One Hour Photomarks Robin Williams' third film running as the bad guy, following on ... more
fromInsomniaand the straight-to-video (in the UK)Death to Smoochy. It's also his most chilling role to date. Playing "photo guy" Sy Parrish, obsessed by the seemingly p...
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One Hour Photo is a psychological thriller featuring Academy Award winner Robin Williams. ... more
In this intense and chilling story, Williams gives a critically acclaimed performance as a lonely photo technician who becomes deeply obsessed with a young family...
One Hour Photomarks Robin Williams' third film running as the bad guy, following on ... more
fromInsomniaand the straight-to-video (in the UK)Death to Smoochy. It's also his most chilling role to date. Playing "photo guy" Sy Parrish, obsessed by the seemingly p...
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'Robin Williams delivers a brave and terrifyingperformance' - US Weekly 'Will likely do ... more
for snapshots what "Psycho"did forshowers' - Vanity Fair Robin Williams delivers his "finest hour" (USA Today) in "one ofthe most absorbing, effective thrillers in years" (NBC-TV). Sy "thephoto guy" Parrish (Williams) has lovingly developed photos for theYorkin family since their son was a baby. But as the Yorkins' life becomes fuller, Sy's only seemslonelier, until he eveentually believes he's part of their family.When "Uncle" Sy's picture-perfect fantasy collides with an uglydose of reality, what happens next "has the spine-tingling elementsof the best psychological thrillers!" (The New YorkObserver)
One Hour Photomarks Robin Williams' third film running as the bad guy, following on ... more
fromInsomniaand the straight-to-video (in the UK)Death to Smoochy. It's also his most chilling role to date. Playing "photo guy" Sy Parrish, obsessed by the seemingly perfect family who are his most regular customers, he paints a desperate image of a lonely, fanatical man whose only comfort lies in imagining himself a part of the lives of the wealthy, happy Yorkins family (headed by Connie Nielsen). Devastated by being fired from his job at the processing lab, and making a shocking discovery on his exit, he descends into psychosis.Director and screenwriter Mark Romanek, previously best known for his Nine Inch Nails and Madonna music videos, has made a stylish, distinctive entry into the world of mainstream movies; the film combines an ever-intensifying sense of menace with some unconventional shocks that never descend into clichés. Refreshingly, the film is presented from Parrish's point of view rather than the Yorkins', and it's a real (if disquieting) treat to see Williams ditch his usual bumbling buffoon character and get another meaty role to sink his teeth into. Eschewing the formulas and devices of the standard thriller with bleak effectiveness,One Hour Photois a far more intelligent proposition than most of its peers--though it may be a disappointment to those expecting visceral thrills.On the DVD:One Hour Photo's beautifully austere photography and skilful use of colour translates excellently to the DVD's anamorphic widescreen format. The stylish menu screens have a photo-processing theme with stills and film footage; the extras comprise an informative and often amusing commentary from Romanek and Williams, a 25-minute Sundance Channel "Anatomy of a Scene" feature, a 12-minute Cinemax featurette, and an in-depth and entertaining half-hour interview with director and star from New York's acclaimed Charlie Rose show. The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and both movie and commentary are subtitled in English only. --Rikki Price
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One Hour Photomarks Robin Williams' third film running as the bad guy, following on ... more
fromInsomniaand the straight-to-video (in the UK)Death to Smoochy. It's also his most chilling role to date. Playing "photo guy" Sy Parrish, obsessed by the seemingly perfect family who are his most regular customers, he paints a desperate image of a lonely, fanatical man whose only comfort lies in imagining himself a part of the lives of the wealthy, happy Yorkins family (headed by Connie Nielsen). Devastated by being fired from his job at the processing lab, and making a shocking discovery on his exit, he descends into psychosis.Director and screenwriter Mark Romanek, previously best known for his Nine Inch Nails and Madonna music videos, has made a stylish, distinctive entry into the world of mainstream movies; the film combines an ever-intensifying sense of menace with some unconventional shocks that never descend into clichés. Refreshingly, the film is presented from Parrish's point of view rather than the Yorkins', and it's a real (if disquieting) treat to see Williams ditch his usual bumbling buffoon character and get another meaty role to sink his teeth into. Eschewing the formulas and devices of the standard thriller with bleak effectiveness,One Hour Photois a far more intelligent proposition than most of its peers--though it may be a disappointment to those expecting visceral thrills.On the DVD:One Hour Photo's beautifully austere photography and skilful use of colour translates excellently to the DVD's anamorphic widescreen format. The stylish menu screens have a photo-processing theme with stills and film footage; the extras comprise an informative and often amusing commentary from Romanek and Williams, a 25-minute Sundance Channel "Anatomy of a Scene" feature, a 12-minute Cinemax featurette, and an in-depth and entertaining half-hour interview with director and star from New York's acclaimed Charlie Rose show. The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and both movie and commentary are subtitled in English only. --Rikki Price
Postage & Packaging:£1.21 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Advantages: a clever and original thriller Disadvantages: none
...no friends. There is however one thing that colours his life, the Yorkin family. In the Yorkin's he sees everything that completes his image of the perfect family, a successful couple, a loving relationship and a young son who is the apple of Sy's eye. Having seen their life evolve over the years through the photographs he develops, he has fallen in love with everything about his imagined surrogate family, but photographs only show the good things ... ...beaten track to begin with, one scene that has Sy committing a seemingly remarkable social trespass begins this quiet re-orientation of the film and by the time we get to the all important reveal scene we find ourselves re-thinking what we thought we knew about the main character. I have had to describe these events in very vague terms as its one of those films that can be ruined by the smallest of information. There is a nice contrast in the settings, ... more
Since bouncing onto our screens as the fast talking alien in "Mork and Mindy", Robin Williams film career has been full of varied and interesting choices. Some have been little more than vehicles for his own stand up routine, such as "Good Morning Vietnam" with its semi-ad-lib script and wise cracking motor mouth central character and some have been undertaken for either the pure entertainment value that appeals to Williams nature. But for every throwaway, Mrs Doubtfire, Flubber and the like there have been and equal amount of work that reminds us that here is an actor worthy of our admiration, someone who is equally up to the challenge of darker, deeper and questioning films. "The Fisher King" showed us Williams suffering from the repercussions of horrific events from his past and "Awakenings" was a monumental triumph both for Williams as a doctor trying to find a solution for coma patients but also for Robert De Niro as his co-lead. "One Hour Photo" shows us Robin Williams in this light too, in a deep, thoughtful and disturbing role and for the first time we see him as the villain rather than as the good guy, though thinks are not as straight forward as that makes it sound. This film eradicates any doubts about his ability to play a completely straight role.
Williams plays Sy Parish, a long term and very experienced worker in a one-hour photo developer in a large hypermarket. For all his cheery manner and everyman quality, his life is an empty one, a single lonely man, a creature of habit, an empty shell, he eats alone in the local dinning hall and his co-worker observes that he has no friends. There is however one thing that colours his life, the Yorkin family. In the Yorkin's he sees everything that completes his image of the perfect family, a successful couple, a loving relationship and a young son who is the apple of Sy's eye. Having seen their life evolve over the years through the photographs he develops, he has fallen in love with everything about his imagined surrogate family, but photographs only show the good things in life, the happy times. Beneath the smiles and the seeming American dream existence there are cracks that have been papered over and it is when Sy finds the evidence of this, his whole demeanour towards the family changes. The film also moves into more gritty territory, Sy the ordinary, lonely, harmless guy becomes a man out for revenge for his shattered dreams and for a secret deep rooted in his past.
What makes Williams so good in this role is his ability to begin the film as this seemingly charming happy and carefree character, the sort of person that populate every shop counter around the world. From the moment we meet him we totally buy into his depiction of mister ordinary and the realisation that these still waters run deeper than we could image makes even more impact because if it. Connie Nielsen as Nina Yorkin, Williams main scene partner for the first half of the film plays the dream mother to a tee and all this smiling normality lulls us into a false sense of security until director Mark Romanek is really to pull the rug from underneath our feet. There are some subtle moves off the beaten track to begin with, one scene that has Sy committing a seemingly remarkable social trespass begins this quiet re-orientation of the film and by the time we get to the all important reveal scene we find ourselves re-thinking what we thought we knew about the main character. I have had to describe these events in very vague terms as its one of those films that can be ruined by the smallest of information. There is a nice contrast in the settings, and it's the cinematography itself that builds the atmosphere to a great degree here. Jeff Cronenweth's bright and intrusive florescent and white interior to the hypermarket make the place seem alien and otherworldly and are a stark contrast to the later more normal backdrops to the action. Even the store uniforms and Williams himself, with his pallid skin tones, add to that ultra vivid image.
The film follows Sy's mental path as he moves from a lonely fixated man to something far more dangerous when he finally can't differentiate between reality and the fantasy his mind has created. Once he is no longer satisfied to be a distant voyeur and feels compelled to take matters into his own hands he crosses a line into altogether more dangerous territory. The story is a one-man show and Williams's character is a very complex character and although he is not mentally complete or balanced there is sympathy for his actions given his past which although only hinted at near the end of the film is evident to the viewer. Its not your usual thriller, there is an everyday quality to the backdrop that makes things even more creepy, these are normal lives, lives like yours and mine. Where as many films involve plots that require a large degree of suspending reality, this film seems far too real. You may ask how a man that prints your photo's can hold any power over you, but in a world when photographs of a naked baby can be misconstrued as child abuse, the man with access to your family's photograph album can cause you a lot of problems.
Advantages: Robin Williams is excellent Disadvantages: Not the most exciting film around
...developed an unhealthy obsession with one particular local family, the Yorkins. Nina Yorkin is something of an amateur photographer, and having lived in the neighbourhood for over a decade, she has become one of Sy’s most loyal customers. Sy has observed the family for as long as he can remember, more recently developing an affection for their young son, Jake, whom he has seen grow from a baby. Sy has nothing but affection and admiration for ... ...plot may sound unusual, but One Hour Photo is a genre film through and through. It is the latest in the long line of “Enemy Within” psychological dramas that cinema audiences seem to enjoy with relentless aplomb. And yet strangely enough, there are no conventional heroes and villains in One Hour Photo. This is a simple tale of how a vulnerable child becomes a dangerous man. Whether that makes him evil or not is a question that you are ...
LostWitness 14.04.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of One Hour Photo (DVD)
Advantages: A truly captivating performance from Williams and an overall concept that infuses every aspect of design. Disadvantages: A sequence towards the end which doesn't really appear to have any significance, and a tacked-on motivation.
...are something else - well, one family in particular are. The Yorkin's are a young family who have been having their photos developed by Sy for years, and one who he frequently fantasises about. Through their photographs he sees all their good times - the family occasions where everyone is smiling, and in that he sees what he yearns for but can never have. All this is threatened by a series of events that puts both Sy's job (his only connection with ... ...Nina (Connie Neilson) in jeopardy. What could this meek mannered man do when his life and all of his dreams are threatened?
In a film which is inextricably linked to photographs it is only fitting that images, colour and light play a huge part in the film, and appear to fit with an overall concept. The style of cinematography used often gives images that would make interesting photographs, such as when Williams is seen through the interrogation ...
ickkate 12.11.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of One Hour Photo (DVD)
Advantages: Genuinely creepy, a mesmerising performance from Robin Williams Disadvantages: The family is a bit bland
One Hour Photo is a kind of creepy, disturbing thriller which gets under your skin. It stars Robin Williams in a very sinister role, very much like the character he played in Christopher Nolan's Insomnia, and it would seem he's turned his back on crazy professors and bumbling family guys, in favour of more complex, freaky characters.
Williams plays Sy Parrish, a lonely photo developer working in a dispiritingly bland supermarket, SavMart (obviously ... ...Dragon. The story of One Hour Photo does actually have some elements of that book in it, so if you're a fan of that, you might want to try this film.
Considering it's a film about photography, you might expect it to look very nice, and it definitely doesn't disappoint on that level. The Director, Mark Romanek, used to direct music videos, including for Madonna, and he obviously knows how to manipulate the screen. There's a scene early on in a car ...
l-m-n-o-p 17.06.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of One Hour Photo (DVD)
Advantages: Atmospheric Sound-track, Top Drawer acting Disadvantages: Dream Sequences don't lead anywhere.
...remember not caring about it one bit - you see I have a bit of a dislike for Williams, maybe it was Patch Adams that did it, or perhaps it was those stockings in Mrs.Doubtfire but I just never really cared for the guy as an actor - so when I went shopping with my former house-mate and she recommended this DVD I wasn’t too sure - but listening to my house-mates great roars of approval I ended up buying it just to see what the fuss is about, and now ... ...character and a highly unstable one from scene to scene, yet always there’s a sense of realism in his performance that is greatly appreciated.
Nina Yorkin (played by Connie Neilsen - who was in Gladiator): The mother of the young family of Sy’s affections, she takes on the role of being an innocent quiet woman who lives to spend time with her son, and does it quite well - showing her emotions without over-doing them and never appearing to be over-bearing ...
Angelus 11.02.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of One Hour Photo (DVD)
Advantages: Great perofrmance from Robin Williams, An interesting concept, quite atmospheric Disadvantages: Quite slow, a poor script, not nasty enough
...chose to go and see One Hour Photo simply because the film sounded quite good and as I have already seen The Two Towers and Ghost Ship, there wasn’t much else on that I wanted to see. One Hour Photo:
Plot:
The film starts off inside a police station where Simon Parish (Robin Williams) is talking to a police officer about an as yet unknown crime. Then the film is told as a flashback which Williams narrates and we are taken back a few weeks ... ...a rather special interest in one particular customer Nina Yorkin (Connie Nielson) and her young son Jacob (Dylan Smith) and even Jacob’s father Will (Michael Vartan). As the story pans out, it soon becomes apparent that this interest is in fact an obsession, Simon is not only processing the Yorkin family photographs but he is printing himself copies off as well, which he pins to his living room wall, almost like some kind of godly shrine.
...
deano_76 06.02.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of One Hour Photo (DVD)
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Advantages: More detailed than the TV series Disadvantages: Not everyones taste
This is the DVD of the first trip that Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman made together on motorbikes.
The DVD i am reviewing is the 2 disc set which contains both unseen and extended footage.
The trip took a long time to play and ultimately was a journey from London to New York via Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, USA and Canada.
The DVD covers the entire television series.
The way the two discs are split is disc one conatins episodes 1, 2 and 3 with the extra features. The second disc has the remaining episodes on , namely 4, 5, 6 and 7. The total running time is about 6 hours so ideally you wont want to watch them in one sitting.
The extras are the unseen material, the photo gallery and the exclusive post trip interview.
The DVD's start with the planning stage where they have to trial possible motobikes ...
Advantages: I got through a bottle of red wine Disadvantages: £2 is a lot of money.......
of ?Infinity True Stories? which has such other titles as ?Sharing the Secret?, ?The Lies Boys Tell? and ?To Live For? (how very tacky). Embarrassed I hid the DVD away of the shelf between ?OneHourPhoto? and ?The Passion of the Christ? (now that was another mistake!), and it was only today that I decided I?d give it a go. Hubby has had to go to work today (it?s a Sunday) followed by some scuba diving lectures, and I?ve been left to my own devices. So, the bottle of red was opened and I watched the film.
***The film***
The film begins as a mother (Annie) gets her three kids ready for school, before going to work in a Diner. Her husband walked out on her five years ago, and she is portrayed as a bit of a victim, and the loving mum who will do anything for her kids. Annie agrees to look after some money for her drug dealing boyfriend ...
, which is probably why I still have the ability to slag off the guy. Yup, during this review I will insult this film. You have been warned.
Before I get round to that though, I have to slag off Universal for releasing one of the most shoddy, lazy DVDs ever produced. For the Region 1 DVD, the extras are: Commentary, Over an Hour Of Deleted Scenes, Production Photos…much more.
For us over here in Region 2 land, the extras are: Trailer.
That isn’t a typo, the computer pixies haven’t got into this document and used their magic deleting paint – that really is the extent of the DVDs content. Just one trailer. I have a thing against trailers on DVDs anyway, because I don’t see the point of an advertisement for the film you just bought, but for this to be the only extra considering that the R1 DVD was released ...
Mouldy_Cheese 22.03.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Mallrats (DVD)
Seymour Parrish works in the photo-processing booth at a large department store and is meticulous about his work, taking great care with all the photographs that he develops. Will and Nina Yorkin are Seymour's favourite customers and they along with their son Jake, regard Seymour as a friendly, harmless eccentric man. Little do they know that Seymour has been making copies of all their photographs and regards himself as part of their family - 'Uncle Sy'...
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DVD
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20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Deluxe Video Service - Fox
Viewed through family photographs, it would seem most people live joyous, leisurely lives. Sy Parrish (Robin Williams), who makes this observation, adversely leads a lonely existence, operating a photo lab in a SavMart department store. To escape his dreary reality, he fixates on the photos of Nancy Yorkin (Connie Nielsen) and her family. But Sy's admiration of the Yorkins soon becomes an unhealthy obsession, impairing his judgment and causing him to lose his job of 11 years. As his final day approaches, Sy discovers photographs revealing an indiscretion on the part of Mr. Yorkin (Michael Vartan), and the now unstable technician develops a disturbing, calculated plan to instill his own idea of family values to the Yorkin clan. Much of ONE HOUR PHOTO takes place inside a Walmart-like department store bordered in an icy blue. This cold atmosphere creates a solitary framework for the disturbed photo developer Sy Parrish, played with a melancholic detachment by Williams, working here against type. Director Mark Romanek (STATIC) has created a thriller with little violence, instead focusing on the uncomfortable fear emanating from its damaged protagonist.
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