One Hour Photo

My initial experience with One Hour Photo was one of the last times my parents rented a film from Hollywood Video before it closed down. I don't really know what they were expecting with this film since it stars Robin Williams as a very lonely, broken and weak man who succumbs to his personal demons-they couldn't have been anticipating some sort of comedy. I don't really know. All I can remember is that my whole family and I watched this in the basement (it was finished by hand by my father and a few other people after we moved in) being completely blown away as this film progressed into a crescendo of psychotic insanity that I truly don't think anyone could have pulled off better than Williams did here. The scene where the cops start investigating Sy's apartment and stumble into the room where he has an entire wall dedicated to photos of the Yorkin family is just downright disturbing and leaves the audience with a very horribly uneasy feeling that anyone could do that sort of thing to them or their families in real life. Hell, people stalk each other on Facebook so I guess we all do that same thing digitally, but there's something real and wrong about actually having physical photos posted on your wall about a person you have an obsession with that just takes this emptiness and loneliness to a whole other level.

 Mugshots are always the worst.

Dead or Alive is a great fighting game. Good choice, kid.

Cutting film. The old school way.

That's hilarious-Sy invented the selfie before stupid smartphones ever existed.

  Yeah... now you have a picture of Sy the photo guy. And he has a whole set of you.

Jake's perception level is through the roof.

White knight during the day-lonely, broken stalker at night.

Jesus, the psychology behind Sy's logic of people taking photos is mesmerizing and it gave me goosebumps.

You're getting to close, man. Don't stick your hand in boiling water-you're going to scold yourself.

"The things we fear the most have already happened to us." So profound, bro. So profound.

Bill knows. He knows about the extra photos, Sy. You're fired. Get out.

It's not to often that I say any one film is a masterpiece, but I truly feel One Hour Photo is a masterwork of psychology that shows just how alone and isolated a human being can be if all of the elements in their lives comes together as such. Robin Williams' portrayal of Sy in this film really is one of his best and darkest performances, and I'm sure he had a rough time being this way as he was most likely funny and light-hearted in real life. Unfortunately, zits and zombies-you never really hear to many people mention this one when any of his movies are brought up, and it's a shame. It really is one of my personal favorites in his catalogue, and if you haven't seen One Hour Photo and have any interest at all in psychology, just set some time aside and watch it. I just remembered I have this roll of film I need developed from 1999... eh, I guess I'll just ask Yoshi to do it. He won't plaster pictures of me all over his living room wall... would he?