Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

One Hour Photo is a movie where Robin Williams goes from being a funny guy in his other movies to being a creep. He plays a very lonely guy, and you would almost feel sorry for him--if he weren't so unhinged and potentially dangerous. The robot in 'Lost in Space' is waving his robot arms and screaming "Danger, Will Robinson."

Let's take a brief retrospective of Robin's career:

He is a stand up comedian in San Francisco, and in 1977 that leads to a couple of spots on "The Richard Pryor Show," an appearance on "Laugh-In," and "Eight is Enough." Next year he gets on "America-2-Night" and then a couple of episodes of "Happy Days" as Mork, a character that is so popular that it spins off into "Mork and Mindy" and a star is born. "Mork and Mindy" runs for 94 episodes. By 1980 he plays Popeye in 'Popeye' for Robert Altman, with Shelly Duvall as Olive Oyl (brilliant casting, by the way). "Mork" continues until 1982.

It seems that Mr. Williams was very successful playing either likable, funny or funny AND likeable characters, but at some point, he wanted to explore his dark side. Thus we have 'One Hour Photo.' Also, 'Death to Smoochy,' 'License to Wed' and an episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" where he plays an enigmatic criminal named Merritt Rook.

His character: Seymour 'Sy' Parrish, though is probably his bleakest. There are few laughs (at least intentional ones) in 'One Hour Photo.' Robin Williams, who spews words in his stand up act, and in such tour de forces of improvisational 'genius' as the Genie in 'Aladdin,' is very subdued and understated in 'One Hour Photo.'

Just a few observations, mostly about the look of One Hour Photo, the art direction, symbols, metaphors, and so forth: Everything is bland in shopping mall land. Beige, beige, beige, as far as the eye can see. Also Seymour's apartment has a bland and antiseptic quality. Seymour is a good name for a stalker and voyeur, because he always wants to "see more." The shortened form of his moniker, "Sy," is even better, because it brings to mind the Cyclops: One Giant Eye looking right at you, like the lens of a camera. There are a lot of visual metaphors for pictures and photography. Sometimes windows and the framing of shots all conspire to bring to mind cameras and photography. The names of the characters are often names of famous photographers, an inside joke (just as one example, his associate is named Araki just like a famous Japanese photographer).

'One Hour Photo' is a very interesting film for its design ideas and its comments on loneliness and alienation in the modern world (or at least as modern as 2002) but it has a few holes in the plot and other flaws that prevent it from being more than an exercise to impress film school professors. For instance, would a couple who have just been humiliated and threatened with a knife just remain in stunned silence once their assailant had left them? Wouldn't they be on the phone in the blink of an eye, calling 911 about the maniac?

If you can suspend disbelief just a little bit, you might enjoy this film for its clever design, thrills and suspense, and a performance from Robin Williams that is very different from anything he's done up to this point.

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" .... Merritt Rook (1 episode, 2008)
- Authority (2008) TV episode .... Merritt Rook
August Rush (2007) .... Maxwell 'Wizard' Wallace
License to Wed (2007) .... Reverend Frank
RV (2006) .... Bob Munro
Insomnia (2002/I) .... Walter Finch
Death to Smoochy (Widescreen Edition) (2002) .... Rainbow Randolph
... aka Tötet Smoochy (Germany)
One Hour Photo (2002) .... Seymour Parrish
Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001) (voice) .... Dr. Know
Patch Adams (1998) .... Hunter 'Patch' Adams
What Dreams May Come (1998) .... Chris Nielsen
Deconstructing Harry (1997) .... Mel/Harry's Character
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar (1995) (uncredited) .... John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
Nine Months (1995) .... Dr. Kosevich
Mrs. Doubtfire (Behind-the-Seams Edition) (1993) .... Daniel Hillard / Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire
Being Human (1993) .... Hector
Toys (1992) .... Leslie Zevo
Aladdin (Disney Special Platinum Edition) (1992) (voice) .... Genie
Hook (1991) .... Peter Banning
The Fisher King (1991) .... Parry
Shakes the Clown (1991) (as Marty Fromage) .... Mime Class Instructor
Dead Again (1991) .... Doctor Cozy Carlisle
Awakenings (1990) .... Dr. Malcolm Sayer
Cadillac Man (1990) .... Joey O'Brien
Dead Poets Society (1989) .... John Keating
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) .... Adrian Cronauer
Jonathan Winters: On the Ledge (1987) (TV) .... Various Characters
Seize the Day (1986) .... Tommy Wilhelm
Club Paradise (1986) .... Jack Moniker
The Best of Times (1986) .... Jack Dundee
"Pryor's Place" .... Gabby (1 episode, 1984)
Moscow on the Hudson (1984) .... Vladimir Ivanoff
The World According to Garp (1982) .... Garp
"Mork & Mindy" .... Mork (94 episodes, 1978-1982)
"The Billy Crystal Comedy Hour" (1 episode, 1982)
Popeye (1980) .... Popeye
Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall (1980) (V) (uncredited) .... Andy's Grandmother
"Happy Days" .... Mork (2 episodes, 1978-1979)

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Larry - Repairman: Next time you call me out here, that thing better be belching fire.
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This film shows Robin Williams in a shocking and effective departure from his frequent comedic roles. As Sy the Photo Guy, he obsesses unhealthily about one family whose photos he has developed for ten years, keeping a set of prints for himself and his collection every time. He intrudes further into their lives, until things start to unravel as he discovers a secret about them and also loses his job.
In the last half hour, he tries to teach one of them a lesson, then ends up with a rather contrived scene which implies some shocking things about his own childhood and how he ended up so mentally unbalanced.
The photography and production design give a polished yet sterile feel to the environments in the film, showcasing Sy's lonely, pitiful existence.