Movie Review: One Hour Photo

I'm not fickle enough to individually see a movie on a star's draw. It's not my thing, really, I like to think that a movie has so many other things to criticize, why limit it to one actor.

Alright, you caught me, I will go see Jackie Chan and Jet Li. And if Jean Claude and Vin Diesel are in a scene without sleeves on (or better, no shirt!)? I'm there as well.

But that's it. I draw the line there.

The reason I bring this up is to mention I am not a fan of Robin Williams, at least not normally. I saw his Broadway revue on HBO, and yes, it was entertaining, but I saw him do similar works on The Actor's Studio. So why would I want to see him do the same schtick again? It's getting to be a bit dated.

Luckily for us, he's got an Oscar and therefore, a farely decent paycheck. As such, he can actually try different things.

Like acting.

And here's the evidence people. This movie is all about Robin and creating sympathy for the devil. The tale is surely an art house piece, the perfect example of anal retentive film making. There are only 5 characters, it seems, because, well, the art house filmmaker only needed that many. The lines are straight. There are no props. Everyone moves like they've been darted by the zookeeper.

But in some way, it works. I was brought to think of Hitchcock, so long ago, when he talked about the art of moviemaking. Of course, no one believed good old sir Alfred--his movies made too much money. But there was a reason for everything he did, every scene before the camera. And here is his offspring.

The filmmaker is still not totally confident, for sequences go far too long and parts that could have been cut aren't. Not really a drawback, but we should see more, better works later on.

But Robin, dear Mr. Williams, really does steal the show. Without revealing too much, he's something of a psychopath. Normally, my experience has been comedic actors can play serious better than dramatic actors doing comedy. Here's a perfect example. Mr. Parris, his character is totally unlikeable for a myriad of reasons. But due to his performance, that underlying bit of humor, you become sympathetic for him and his plight.

I'm going to give the movie 3.5 stars. It's surely one of those movies you just have to see for yourself, no amount of criticism is going to help your decision. It is a thriller, but there's really only one jolt. The rest is very staged and easy to follow. It's not something you would rent with a group of intoxicated guys and hope there's some good creepiness. This is the kind of spooky where you sit on the couch and merely get the shivers.