ONE HOUR PHOTO [2002] Robin Williams, Connie Nielson ; Rated 15

An intriguing and genuinely touching tale about, put simply, a lonely guy. Robin Williams tops his recent performance in 'Insomnia' with this amazing portrayal of lonely photo technician Sy Parrish. When Sy becomes obsessed with a picture perfect family, his life starts to revolve round their every move and when events threaten to disrupt the home life he has become to think of as his own, Sy will stop at nothing to preserve it. Considering this film is Mark Romanek's directorial debut, it is an impressive piece of work. He deals with all of the scenes perfectly and in such away that he makes it very hard for your attention to wander off the story. With that and Williams's huge screen presence you will find it hard not to be totally captivated by it all. The movie allows you to really get to know the main character and really get inside his head. The effect is really feeling sorry for Sy and understanding why he did what he did and why he is what he is. To really be able to get under a characters skin like this is a rare thing in modern filmmaking, a world where character building is seen to hamper box office sales. Sadly that might be true, but I doubt that will stop Williams from having a shot at an Oscar for this one and if he doesn't, it would almost certainly be a crime.

4/5