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chapter11 [ 8.5 ]
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Tense, unsettling, low-key thriller stars Robin Williams as an unbalanced photo-shop worker with an unhealthy fixation on his customers. He's a friendly, greying gentleman, but has a few creepy daydream sequences--- the first a mildly eerie fantasy about lounging about the home of his subjects, the Yorkins, sitting in their chairs, drinking the dad's beer, pooping in their toilet. Another, more violent dream sequence is one of few visuals to jolt the viewer out of his/her seat. Brilliantly, the tension mounts in this stark, sterile nightmare, until the startlingly violent climax. Williams plays his creepy role to the hilt, without the hammy dramatics called for by his screen villains in his other 2002 movies, "Insomnia" and "Death to Smoochy." Unfortunately, the film isn't a masterpiece, as it explains very little about Williams' fixation with the Yorkins'. But it's a very effective film, featuring one of Williams' best non-comedic turns as well as one of his most memorable characters, Sy Parrish, the Photo Guy.
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kcremer [ 8.0 ]
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I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining this movie was. It stars Robin Williams as Sy, a lonely, creepy man who develops film at a Wal-Mart-type department store. Sy becomes obsessed with a family whom he became aquainted with over the years from developing their film. So much so, that he has a collage of pictures of this family that he's created on his wall.
The atmosphere at the store, and at Sy's home perfectly parallel his mindframe throughout the movie, which impressed me. The performances (especially Williams, who hasn't been this good since "Good WIll Hunting") and direction were very good, not to mention the script, which has some interesting twists.
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jeff_v [ 6.5 ]
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Though the social commentary and characterizations are thin, Mark Romanek's debut feature is an above-average thriller. Robin Williams does a good job with superficial material, and Romanek has a well-developed photographic eye. A couple plot points were unconvincing: (SPOILER: What manager would ever fire someone and expect them to work the rest of the week?
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Stitch [ 8.0 ]
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Lots to like about this movie, but still needed one more go through by the editor and director. Robin Williams is very good as the slightly unbalanced "Sy the Photo Guy". The biggest problem was the lack of a motivation for Sy's obsession. I can see how, after nine years of obssessing about something, you could go over the edge, but how did it start? And what was his ultimate goal at the end that justified (in his mind at least) his actions? But still this was an intriguing movie and the story did keep you interested. Nicely filmed and paced. In fact the pacing and the look reminded me of The Shining. It seemed obvious that the directing was definitely inspired by Kubrick. And for me that's a pretty high compliment. Worth watching.
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| Weighted Rating | : 7.2 |
| No. Ratings | : 15 | |
| No. Reviews | : 5 | |
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