Join BP, Coop and Justin as we review One Hour Photo, the 2002 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Mark Romanek and starring Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan, Gary Cole, and Eriq La Salle. The film stars Williams as a photo technician who develops an unhealthy obsession with a family to whom he has long provided services.
The film premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, was given a limited release on August 21, 2002, and was given a wider release on September 13. One Hour Photo received positive reviews from film critics, including praise for Williams's against-type performance, which earned him the Saturn Award for Best Actor. The film was also a commercial success, grossing $52.2 million against a $12 million budget.
Chapters
00:00 Robin Williams
00:06 Title Sequence
00:24 Introducing One Hour Photo
00:45 Overall Thoughts
06:45 Favourite Parts
13:13 What We Disliked
20:49 Trivia
24:22 Ratings
25:00 Final Thoughts
29:00 Thank You
29:01 Obsessed
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Trent Reznor, of the band Nine Inch Nails, was originally asked to compose the film's score. However, early in the process, Romanek was allegedly pressured by the studio to hire a "real composer" and Reznor was dropped from the production. Some of the music Reznor created for the film evolved into material found on the Nine Inch Nails EP Still.
In accordance with the photography-themed movie, the names of several characters are drawn from actual photographers: Sy's assistant at the Savmart, Yoshi Araki (named for Nobuyoshi Araki), manager Bill Owens (Bill Owens); Det. Van Der Zee (James Van Der Zee); Det. Outerbridge (Paul Outerbridge); Maya Burson (Nancy Burson); and Savmart customers Mrs. von Unwerth (Ellen von Unwerth) and Mr. Siskind (Aaron Siskind).
In one of the voice-over pieces Sy can be heard to say, "They actually believe that any idiot that attends a two-day seminar can master the art of making beautiful prints in less than an hour. But of course, like most things, there's far more to it than meets the eye." Williams prepared for the role by training for two and-a-half days in a Southern California photo development lab.
In an interview, Romanek said that he was inspired to create this movie by films from the 1970s about "lonely men", notably Taxi Driver (1976).
In the DVD commentary, Romanek says that Jack Nicholson was first approached to play the lead character. Nicholson turned down the role reportedly because he thought the character was too similar to the role he played in The Shining (1980).
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