Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4000 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-03-31
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
One Hour Photo marks Robin Williams' third film running as the bad guy, following on from Insomnia and 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 Photo is 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

Special Features
Audio Commentary by director Mark Romanek and Robin Williams
Cinemax "making of" featurette
Charlie Rose Show with guests Mark Romanek and Robin Williams
Sundance: Anatomy of a scene

Synopsis
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.