accessAtlanta

Grade: B+

Verdict: Take in this picture.

Details: Starring Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen and Michael Vartan. Directed by Mark Romanek. Rated R for sex, nudity and violence. One hour, 38 minutes. Limited release

See it: Local theaters and showtimes for One Hour Photo

Rate it: Write your own review

Review: One thing's for certain about "One Hour Photo": You'll never think of the guy at your local photo kiosk the same way.

In his third — and best — image-changing role of the year, Robin Williams submerges his famous face and mannerisms into the role of Sy Parrish, aka Sy the Photo Guy. Sy's photo stand is in a SavMart, one of those immense one-stop-shopping places that populate suburbia. Photos are his life.

Sy knows all about his customers — the lady who only takes pictures of her cats or the slightly pathetic amateur porn artist. But he's obsessed with the Yorkins: Nina (Connie Nielsen), Will (Michael Vartan) and their son, Jakob (Dylan Smith). They are the prototypical happy American family, always bringing him rolls of film taken at birthday parties, vacations, holidays. It's the Yorkins, most likely, that Sy is talking about when he tells us that, based on what we see recorded in photos, someone would assume that "We all lead a joyous existence."

Sy's existence is anything but joyous. His life is made up of deserted parking lots, dismal solo meals and his small, lonely apartment, which, like Sy, is washed out and colorless. Except, that is, for a wall covered with lively, vibrant pictures ... of the Yorkins.

The more isolated Sy feels, the more he fantasizes about the Yorkins, imagining himself sharing Christmas with them as kindly Uncle Sy. It's one thing when he offers Nina extra copies of her photos, but it's quite another when he shows up at Jakob's soccer practice to walk him home. The line between harmless lonely guy and potential lunatic stalker has blurred.

Williams makes Sy genuinely creepy — perhaps not as creepy as Mrs. Doubtfire, but still awfully unsettling. Sy's laugh seems like a silent scream for someone — anyone — to notice him. His worried little gestures are like a nervous breakdown in the making. He's like a drowning victim: still gasping for air but going under fast.

However, there's more to this movie than Williams. Writer/director Mark Romanek, who did Madonna's "Bedtime Story" video and "Closer" with Nine Inch Nails (as well as the 1985 movie "Static," starring Keith Gordon), brings his terrific visual sense to the film. The use of color is especially clever. The first part of the movie is mostly sallow beiges or gleaming austere whites. After Sy realizes people are never as uncomplicated as they appear in their photos, his life bursts into color. Floating down the all-white SavMart aisle, he's surrounded by red Igloo coolers, yellow rain slickers and blue backpacks. The care Romanek has spent on his film is starkly evident; his only problem is the last part, which is one of those too much/not enough endings.

Romanek's themes are every bit as distinctive as his visuals. Beyond the cleverness, the weirdness and the pristine camerawork, "One Hour Photo" is a sobering meditation on why we take pictures. A photo, Sy says, is a stand against the flow of time. It not only freezes a moment but insists, "I was here. I existed. Someone cared enough about me to take my picture."

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution