One Hour Photo (2002) is an American psychological thriller, written and directed by Mark Romanek and starring Robin Williams. Fox Searchlight Pictures distributed the movie in the United States, and it 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.
Directed by Mark Romanek
Produced by Christine Vachon
Pamela Koffler
Stan Wlodkowski
Written by Mark Romanek
Starring Robin Williams
Connie Nielsen
Michael Vartan
Dylan Smith
Gary Cole
Eriq La Salle
Music by Reinhold Heil
Johnny Klimek
Cinematography Jeff Cronenweth
Editing by Jeffrey Ford
Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release date(s) August 21, 2002 (limited); September 13, 2002 (wide)
Running time 96 min.
Language English
Budget ~ US$12,000,000
Plot
Williams stars as Seymour “Sy” Parrish, a mini-lab photo tech at “SavMart’s” one-hour photo developing clinic in suburban Los Angeles, where he leads a depressing, solitary life. Every day he labors to ensure his customers get the best quality photos possible; his life is truly his work, for he has no one and nothing to go home to at the end of each day. Among his customers are the Yorkin family, made up of husband William (Vartan), wife Nina (Nielsen), and their only child Jake (Dylan Smith). Sy 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. 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 attempts to become closer to the family are gently rebuffed. Sy discovers that William is having an affair, and his idyllic conception of the Yorkins as the ‘perfect’ family is shattered. He comes to hate and envy William, who has everything Sy longs for, yet doesn’t seem to care. Sy soon finds himself in trouble with his boss, SavMart manager Bill Owens (Cole), first for an outburst in the store with the mini-lab’s service technician, and then for the manager’s discovery that Sy has been making unaccounted photo copies and giving away a disposable camera to Jake for his birthday. After being fired for this, Sy stalks Owens’ young daughter, leading to a police report against him. While detectives Van Der Zee and Outerbridge (played by La Salle and Clark Gregg) are discovering Sy’s obsession, he confronts William and his mistress, Maya (Erin Daniels) while they are making love in their hotel room, with a knife and a camera, and forces the lovers to pose naked while he takes pictures. Throughout the ordeal, William’s mistress panics and Sy reacts violently. After this, Sy discovers that the police arrived in the hotel and tries to escape. The alarm sounds and Van Der Zee pursues him while Outerbridge discovers a tormented William Yorkin and his mistress. As Sy tries to leave the hotel, he is finally arrested.
In the movie’s final scene, set in a police interrogation room, Van Der Zee asks Sy why he terrorized the Yorkins. 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, and this accounts for his loneliness and his obsession with photography. Sy cannot understand why William, as the perfect father, was determined to destroy his family. As the detective 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 (possibly an allusion to his statement, earlier in the film, ‘the little things are that which make up our lives’).
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 the Yorkin family is grateful to him for having saved them by exposing Will’s affair.
Release and reaction
One Hour Photo opened to mostly positive 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, followed by an additional $20,626,175 in overseas territories, for an international total of $52,223,306; not a blockbuster by any means, but certainly a success, considering its modest $12 million budget.
Robin Williams was the recipient of a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Sy.
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. 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 still be heard on the Nine Inch Nails EP Still.[1]
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), 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 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.
Major cast
* Robin Williams - Seymour ‘Sy’ Parrish
* Connie Nielsen - Nina Yorkin
* Michael Vartan - Will Yorkin
* Dylan Smith - Jake Yorkin
* Gary Cole - Bill Owens
* Eriq La Salle - Detective James Van Der Zee
* Clark Gregg - Detective Paul Outerbridge
* Erin Daniels - Maya Burson
