Rating of
1/4
1-HR Photo Takes Too Long to Develop
preston - wrote on 06/10/16
Ok, ok-everyone believes that Robin Williams can play the creepy-stalker type. Anyone who paid the $8 to see Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia can attest to that. My problem is this: why can’t he pick better movies in which to play the creepy stalker guy? 1-Hr Photo was the movie I had anticipated as the end of the late summer/early fall drought of lifeless movies. Unfortunately this film provided no such relief. The trailers for Photo (released by Fox’s Searchlight division) depicted a lonely man, longing for a family of his own, who is pushed to the edge by divorce, and a demanding boss (played by Gary Cole of Office Space). This is the basic premise, but there is no edge. You never really feel sorry for Robin William’s character, and that’s the key to making this movie work. Without being able to understand, at least to a greater extent, why the creepy stalker guy is lashing out, there’s no connection between the movie and its viewers. Not to give away anything, but wouldn’t you expect this type of film to have a climax, where it is feared that someone may be killed-at least threatened? Maybe that’s just me.
The film’s pace is entirely too slow, with several periods where the audience becomes all too aware of what the person next to them is doing (which, in my case, included the ceaseless crunching of inexpensive corn chips and a nacho cheese-like substance.) In several instances, I felt uncomfortable for the actors, because of the screenplay’s inability to exit a scene, or finish one of it’s numerous subplots. Williams is good enough to make the movie somewhat entertaining, but sadly I can’t recommend this show.
