10/04/2022

One Hour Photo (2002) - Romanek, Williams and Co. capture a troubling thriller

♥♥♥♥

 

Star Robin Williams develops film wearing white gloves on this poster for Mark Romanek's One Hour Photo

The kind department store photo developer Sy does his job with care and a smile. But he is in fact a devastatingly lonely man, who over the course of several years have brought home with him the photos of one specific family. Now he loses his job, which is his only connection to reality.

 

One Hour Photo is written and directed by great Illinoisan filmmaker Mark Romanek (Static (1985)).

Robin Williams (Aladdin (1992)) once again shows new facets to his vast acting talent as Sy, the tormented protagonist that he makes us both feel sympathy and fear for here. Connie Nielsen (Gladiator (2000)) and the rest of the supporting cast are also fantastic.

One Hour Photo is almost mechanical in its visual competence, (Romanek is an accomplished music video director; Jeff Cronenweth (Hitchcock (2012)) did the cinematography here.) The film is tight and thrilling. One Hour Photo never sensationalizes its plot. It is a role-model of a psychological thriller.

 




Watch a trailer for the film here


Cost: 12 mil. $

Box office: 52.2 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.35 times its cost)

[One Hour Photo premiered 13 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 96 minutes. Shooting took place from October 2000 - January 2001 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #24 to a 321k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #3 and in 1,332 theaters (different weeks), grossing 31.5 mil. $ ( 60.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 3.3 mil. $ (6.3 %) and Australia with 2.2 mil. $ (5.2 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Romanek returned with scores of music video and theatrically with Never Let Me Go (2010). Williams returned in Death to Smoochy (2002). One Hour Photo is certified fresh at 81 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

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