VIDEO
One Hour Photo

Starring: Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen & Michael Vartan
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
£12.99
22851S
Certificate: 15
Available now


Si is a lonely man with no relatives or friends, who becomes obsessed with a family through camera prints he processes regularly whilst working at a one hour photo booth in a department store. When he learns via somebody else's prints that the man is having an affair, Si takes matters into his own hands...

Firstly, let me say that I'm not a fan of Robin Williams. In my opinion, he's one of those actors who is stuck in a single enactment of weakness and compassion, in the same manner that Jim Carey can only do manic comedy. Having said all that, Williams pulls off a faultless performance and certainly the most natural since his fun-filled early start in Mork and Mindy. In fact, he carries the film, convincing me it would be nothing without him. I actually felt genuinely sympathetic towards the character who, with the best of intentions, goes about things the wrong way.

At the conclusion of the film we discover just why Si considers happy families to be so important. The revelation comes as a throw-away line, but it puts all the movie's motives in perspective. It's not the tightest script in the world. There's no outright resolution. The tale simply comes to an end without the audience discovering how the characters are affected, but it is compelling in its own way.

One hour photo is among those many films which lose much of their power after one viewing, so my advice would be to take the rental option, or await its obligatory airing on Channel 5.

Ty Power

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