A mentally unstable photo developer targets an upper middle-class family after his obsession with them becomes more sick and disturbing than any of them could imagine.A mentally unstable photo developer targets an upper middle-class family after his obsession with them becomes more sick and disturbing than any of them could imagine.A mentally unstable photo developer targets an upper middle-class family after his obsession with them becomes more sick and disturbing than any of them could imagine.
- Awards
- 6 wins & 22 nominations
Paul Kim Jr.
- Yoshi Araki
- (as Paul Hansen Kim)
Andy Rolfes
- Officer Lyon
- (as Andrew A. Rolfes)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAfter the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Robin Williams overheard viewers say that they forgot it was Williams in the lead role 15 minutes into the film. An observation that made Williams proud.
- GoofsWhen Sy is fired from Savmart, his boss Bill allows him to finish the rest of his work week. In real life, terminated employees are generally handed their last paycheck, asked to sign a couple of documents, and are escorted from the premises. Especially since Sy was fired for what appeared to be behavioral issues, he never would be allowed to continue working.
- Quotes
Sy Parrish: And if these pictures have anything important to say to future generations, it's this... I was here. I existed. I was young. I was happy... and someone cared enough about me in this world to take my picture.
- Alternate versionsAn early cut of the film had several differences than the theatrical version.
- The opening Fox Searchlight logo briefly becomes a negative image as it fades out. This is obviously a reference to picture negatives.
- An alternate prologue before the main titles featured a narration by Williams on the red eye effect in human's and animals, while a photo of a family with red eyes, footage of animals with this effect and video of what's happening in the eye when this happens.
- There was also a scene near the end where a police detective reviews the pictures Sy took of Will & Maya at the hotel. In the theatrical version these photos were never shown and it was left in question whether they were actually taken.
- The argument between Sy and the photo machine repair guy was extended.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Anatomy of a Scene: One Hour Photo (2002)
- SoundtracksComing Home
Written by William Aura, Craig Dobbin, and Alain Eskinasi
Performed by 3rd Force
Courtesy of Higher Octave Music
Featured review
Seymour is a lonely nondescript man who lives by himself and works in the photo developing lab in a large mall. The only bit of cheer in his day is to develop very good photos in his lab, and he takes great pride in his work. His favourite customers are the Yorkin's, who have a son and regularly develop pictures. Seymour's like for this family goes beyond `like' and he feels part of their family and has all their pictures on his wall. However when both his job and the unity of his family are threatened he reacts.
I saw this film in a free preview screening before it came out so I had no reviews to cloud me first. Happily most of them appear to feel the same as I did. In terms of plot this set up will be no surprise to anyone we've all seen Single White Female and Pacific Heights etc, we know what happens that leads to the old bunny boiling etc.
However One Hour Photo is different enough to justify watching. My wife complained that it was too slow and boring but I felt this approach helped it stand out. Instead of being a thriller it was more of a cold slow boiler than was more chilling than thrilling. The plot is well laid out even the money shot of all the pictures on the wall is played out while we're distracted by a joke from the Simpsons on TV. The director's cold approach to story telling works very well and highlights Seymour's grey existence and cold life. Only occasionally does he go astray the fantasy sequences don't always work for instance but for almost the whole film he does very well.
Towards the end Seymour's behaviour goes erratic as we expect and I was worried that the film had eventually given way to cliché. Happily this is not the case. Yes, Seymour's change is a bit of a leap at first but the film cleverly pulls it back at the end. This makes it above the rest of this genre by a good head and shoulders. Clever touches abound in the film but don't always work. For example the director shows us that it is all about seeing by covering Seymour's eyes with objects in some shots to show he has lost his ability to watch, while the name Yorkin is a slight play on `Your Kin' or your family. These are clever but don't add very much the eye theme felt a bit too clever and intrusive.
Williams is excellent. Having paid to see him mush around in Patch Adams I was worried here that eventually his emotions would run away with him. However Williams (and here's something you'd won't hear much) keeps it all in check and underplays wonderfully. His Seymour is likeable, sad, pathetic and chilling all at once. It's hard not to feel for him and he is better for being low-key. I truly felt Williams had turned himself into a `little' man one of those people who you barely notice on the streets as they make no lasting image. Vartan (Alias) is good as Will and Nielsen is also good as Nina. They are also given firm support in the shape of Gary Cole and La Salle. However his is Williams show and, by underplaying, he steals it easily.
Overall this has it's flaws but it is head and shoulders above the rest of this stalker genre. Directed with a clinic eye rather than a thrilling eye this is clever and different enough to more than justify checking it out.
I saw this film in a free preview screening before it came out so I had no reviews to cloud me first. Happily most of them appear to feel the same as I did. In terms of plot this set up will be no surprise to anyone we've all seen Single White Female and Pacific Heights etc, we know what happens that leads to the old bunny boiling etc.
However One Hour Photo is different enough to justify watching. My wife complained that it was too slow and boring but I felt this approach helped it stand out. Instead of being a thriller it was more of a cold slow boiler than was more chilling than thrilling. The plot is well laid out even the money shot of all the pictures on the wall is played out while we're distracted by a joke from the Simpsons on TV. The director's cold approach to story telling works very well and highlights Seymour's grey existence and cold life. Only occasionally does he go astray the fantasy sequences don't always work for instance but for almost the whole film he does very well.
Towards the end Seymour's behaviour goes erratic as we expect and I was worried that the film had eventually given way to cliché. Happily this is not the case. Yes, Seymour's change is a bit of a leap at first but the film cleverly pulls it back at the end. This makes it above the rest of this genre by a good head and shoulders. Clever touches abound in the film but don't always work. For example the director shows us that it is all about seeing by covering Seymour's eyes with objects in some shots to show he has lost his ability to watch, while the name Yorkin is a slight play on `Your Kin' or your family. These are clever but don't add very much the eye theme felt a bit too clever and intrusive.
Williams is excellent. Having paid to see him mush around in Patch Adams I was worried here that eventually his emotions would run away with him. However Williams (and here's something you'd won't hear much) keeps it all in check and underplays wonderfully. His Seymour is likeable, sad, pathetic and chilling all at once. It's hard not to feel for him and he is better for being low-key. I truly felt Williams had turned himself into a `little' man one of those people who you barely notice on the streets as they make no lasting image. Vartan (Alias) is good as Will and Nielsen is also good as Nina. They are also given firm support in the shape of Gary Cole and La Salle. However his is Williams show and, by underplaying, he steals it easily.
Overall this has it's flaws but it is head and shoulders above the rest of this stalker genre. Directed with a clinic eye rather than a thrilling eye this is clever and different enough to more than justify checking it out.
- bob the moo
- Oct 4, 2002
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Фото за годину
- Filming locations
- Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA(Yorkin house)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $31,597,131
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $321,515
- Aug 25, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $52,223,306
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