One Hour Photo (2002 Robin Williams' film)

MakeEmLaugh

Watched Mark Romanek's film One Hour Photo for the first time this week, having been spurred on to do so by the death of Robin Williams. I thought it was a pretty decent thriller. It had its flaws. For one, the intermittent voiceover was unnecessary. Additionally, opening the film with a scene which takes place towards the end of the film's narrative was a mistake, I feel, as it undermined everything else. We knew where we were going to end up.

That being said, Williams was excellent, the plot had a couple of unexpected twists and there was some startling imagery, notably a dream sequence in which blood gushes from Williams’ eyes. One scene in particular - involving trespassing in someone’s home only to have them return - had me on tenterhooks,
though it turned out to be a bit of cheat, being a dream sequence.

I probably preferred Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia, released the same year, which saw Williams taking a departure from his more comedic and family-centric roles, for something darker and more sinister.

mark13

This is probably my favourite Robin Williams movies, interestingly enough there was a workprint online a few years ago that had a few changes that significantly altered the tone of the movie.

First of all it had some of the Trent Reznor score which was eventually dropped, the opening scene was different and sets a more menacing tone additionally the photos Sy took in the hotel room turn out to be of the couple, not just random objects in the room. Sy comes across a lot worse, which the studio had a big problem with, so Romanek re-cut the movie, his commentary on the dvd is well worth a listen, I think the workprint cut is a much stronger movie, pity it will never get a proper release.

Zeek12

Williams' performances were generally better in dramatic roles. One Hour Photo, Insomnia, Dead Poets Society to name but a few.

Comedy may not have come as easy to him as it appeared on the surface.

May he RIP. A really sad end to a fantastic career.