One Hour Photo

One Hour Photo
Directed by	Mark Romanek
Written by	Mark Romanek
Produced by	Christine Vachon Pamela Koffler Stan Wlodkowski
Starring	Robin Williams Connie Nielsen Michael Vartan Dylan Smith Gary Cole Eriq La Salle
Cinematography	Jeff Cronenweth
Edited by	Jeffrey Ford
Music by	Reinhold Heil Johnny Klimek
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release date	August 21, 2002 (2002-08-21)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12 million
Box office	$52,223,306

One Hour Photo is a 2002 American psychological thriller written and directed by Mark Romanek and starring Robin Williams. Fox Searchlight Pictures distributed the movie in the United States. One Hour Photo also starred Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan, Gary Cole, and Eriq La Salle. Williams won a Saturn Award for Best Actor (2003) for his work in the film.

Plot

Seymour "Sy" Parrish (Williams), a mini-lab washroom technician at SavMart's one-hour photo developing clinic in suburban Los Angeles, leads a depressing, solitary life outside of the "heaven-like", hyperreality atmosphere of the department store. Every day he labors to ensure his customers get the best quality photos possible; his life is truly his work, as he has no one and nothing to go home to at the end of each day. As each workday comes to an end, Sy falls into the inescapable routine of spending his evenings sitting alone in his barren living room, watching television. The only thing in Sy's immaculate apartment he has for companionship is a hamster, caged in his bedroom. He is an extremely organized, tidy, and meticulous type of person who wears all beige attire. Feeling out of place in a world where nobody seems to understand the precious gift of friends and family, Sy tends to immerse himself in his own fantasies to escape the pain of his existence.

His favorite customers are the Yorkin family, made up of husband Will (Vartan), wife Nina (Nielsen), and their only child Jake (Dylan Smith). He has done their photos for years and, over time, has developed an obsession with the family; he idolizes their happiness and affluence, memorizes every personal detail about them that he can learn, and finally begins to stalk them. Sy secretly makes his own copies of the Yorkins' photos from the film negatives and then puts them on a wall in his apartment, a massive collage which has accumulated to over 600 in count. Most of all, he fantasizes about being a member of their family and sharing in the love he assumes they must feel. However, he is painfully shy and his awkward attempts to become closer to the family are gently rebuffed.

Sy eventually manages to spark a connection to Nina when he pretends to have interest in a novel he noticed she had been reading on a particular day in the store. For the first time, Nina asks Sy personal questions about his life, realizing that he is indeed a lonely man, something only Jake had empathetically noticed earlier. This connection is short-lived, however, as Sy's boss, Mr. Owens, fires him the next day for stealing prints. While inspecting his photos for the last time, Sy discovers that Will is having an affair and his idyllic conception of the Yorkins as the 'perfect' family is shattered. He comes to hate and envy Will, who has everything Sy longs for, yet doesn't seem to care.

After losing his job, Sy stalks and takes pictures of Owens' young daughter, leading to a police investigation against him. While detectives Van Der Zee and Outerbridge (played by La Salle and Clark Gregg) are discovering Sy's obsession, Sy confronts Will and his mistress, Maya (Erin Daniels), during a rendezvous in their hotel room. With a knife and a camera, Sy forces the lovers to pose naked while he takes pictures. Throughout the ordeal, Maya panics and Sy reacts aggressively, but does not harm either of them. After the confrontation, as Sy just sits at the right edge of the bed in his hotel room, he discovers that the police have arrived in the hotel and tries to escape. The alarm sounds and Van Der Zee pursues him while Outerbridge discovers Will Yorkin and his mistress, unharmed but traumatized. After a chase, the police finally apprehend Sy in the parking garage as he attempts to make a break for his car.

The movie's final scene is set in a police interrogation room where Van Der Zee asks Sy why he terrorized the Yorkins, to which Sy indirectly reveals that his father had made him do "sick, disgusting things that no kid should ever have to do". The implication, confirmed by Romanek, is that Sy's father exploited him for child pornography. Romanek has also confirmed that Sy had used the camera as a means of both punishing Will and confronting his past, as his father used to tell him "it's all just pretend" while abusing him. Sy cannot understand why Will, as the perfect father, was determined to destroy his family, and thus permanently ended the fantasy he has held for nearly 10 years.

As the detective comes to understand him and prepares to take his confession, Sy asks for the pictures he made at the hotel, which the detective has described as "evidence". They appear to be only shots of household objects and interior furnishings he took on a separate roll after the incident in the hotel.

The film closes with a picture of the Yorkin family with Sy. Romanek claims in the DVD commentary that the picture is intended to symbolize an open ending; it is left up to the viewer to decide whether the picture only exists in Sy's mind or if he ever sees the Yorkin family again.

Release and reaction

One Hour Photo opened to above average reviews, earning raves from Roger Ebert, Leonard Maltin, and other noted critics.

The movie's limited release began on August 21, 2002 in seven theaters, opening to a $321,515 weekend, with an average of $45,930 per theater. Its wide release began the next month on September 13, with a 1,212 theater count. Still, the film made just over $8 million that weekend, and went on to gross $31,597,131 in the US, with an additional $20,626,175 in overseas territories, for an international total of $52,223,306; this was a moderate box office success, as the budget was around $12 million.

Robin Williams was the recipient of a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Sy.

The film has an 80% positive rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. The film's aggregate score at Metacritic is 64 out of 100.

Behind the scenes

Romanek intended the film to be much longer, but the studio ordered it to be cut shorter, and elements rearranged out of concerns about commerciality. The beginning, for example, was moved to the end. Also, several of Sy's narrative monologues were removed, and several scenes were re-shot with fewer lines. The original version also has older musical scores that were not used in the final product. A director's cut is not available to buy, but was shown at the Sundance Film Festival.

Trent Reznor, of the band Nine Inch Nails, composed the original film score, but Romanek opted not to use it. The music can be heard on the Nine Inch Nails EP Still.

In accordance with photography being the theme of the movie, many of the characters in the movie take their names from photographers. Examples include: Sy's assistant at the Savmart, Yoshi Araki (named for Nobuyoshi Araki); Det. Van Der Zee (James Van Der Zee); Det. Outerbridge (Paul Outerbridge); Maya Burson (Nancy Burson); and Savmart customers Mrs. von Unwerth (Ellen von Unwerth) and Mr. Siskind (Aaron Siskind). In addition, the hotel at the end of the movie, the Edgerton, is also named for a noted photographer — Harold Eugene Edgerton.

In one of the voice-over pieces Sy can be heard to say "They actually believe that any idiot that attends a two-day seminar can master the art of making beautiful prints in less than an hour. But of course, like most things, there's far more to it than meets the eye." In reality Robin Williams prepared for the role by training for two and-a-half days in a Southern California photo development lab.

In commentary, Romanek has gone on to state that he was partially inspired by the films of 'lonely men' from the 1970s, notably Taxi Driver.

In the DVD commentary, Romanek says that Jack Nicholson was first approached to play the lead character. Nicholson turned the role down.

In one scene, Sy watches the film The Day the Earth Stood Still while standing in front of his wall laminated with photos of the Yorkin family.

The film features footage of a Mass Production Eva Unit from Neon Genesis Evangelion, an item from Robin Williams' personal collection. Williams is stated to be a huge fan of the show.

Cast

• Robin Williams — Seymour 'Sy' Parrish
• Connie Nielsen — Nina Yorkin
• Michael Vartan — Will Yorkin
• Dylan Smith — Jake Yorkin
• Gary Cole — Bill Owens, Manager
• Eriq La Salle — Detective James Van Der Zee
• Clark Gregg — Detective Paul Outerbridge
• Erin Daniels — Maya Burson

External links

• Official website
• One Hour Photo at IMDb
• One Hour Photo at Rotten Tomatoes
• One Hour Photo at Metacritic
• One Hour Photo at Box Office Mojo