Critic Reviews
One Hour Photo (2002) Rank 3 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (321) reviews
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Days of Thunder (Travis Hoover)
Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It marks an impressive debut for first-time writer-director Mark Romanek, especially considering his background is in music video. His script is uncluttered and potent, and his direction manipulates a devastating climax that ties the photo/voyeuristic ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
DVD Review e-zine
Washington Post (Desson Howe)
HIS NAME is Sy Parrish, but his face is pure Christian Szell, the Nazi doctor played by Laurence Olivier in "Marathon Man." You can almost hear him hissing, "Is it ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Washington Post (Desson Howe)
The Movie Chicks
filmcritic.com (Rachel Gordon)
Apollo Movie Guide (Mike DeWolfe)
Robin Williams plays a clerk at a department store photo counter who becomes obsessed with one of his customer families. This drama/ thriller is written and directed by Mark Romanek. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Apollo Movie Guide (Mike DeWolfe)
DVD Clinic ("The Shootin Surgeon")
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Private Joker's Head (Zach Ralston)
Window to the Movies (Jeffrey Chen)
UpcomingDiscs.com (Rod Edwards)
DVD Authority.com ("Fusion3600")
Moose Hole (Joseph Kastner)
If Hollywood hasn’t gotten the hint they should definitely hear it from here. The message being: Good performances and stories mean more then big stars and special effects. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Moose Hole (Joseph Kastner)
Citysearch (Justin Hartung)
After years of rehashing the cuddly genie from Aladdin , Williams reminds us why he became a star in the first place. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Citysearch (Justin Hartung)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Intense and absorbing experience. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Feo Amante (Kelly Parks)
Sy is genuinely creepy but ultimately he's a sad character. His actions are twisted and unacceptable but his motivation is mostly loneliness. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Feo Amante (Kelly Parks)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
It's a powerful movie that has a genuinely unsettling universal relevance for about 90 percent of its length. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
eFilmCritic.com (Oz)
Those people that call One Hour Photo the most disturbing work Robin Williams has ever produced don't know what they're talking about - I saw Patch Adams. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Oz)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Williams gives a performance that is riveting in its recessiveness and, as a consequence, truly, deeply scary. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
NutzWorld (Blake French)
...unique and brilliant... ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at NutzWorld (Blake French)
Netflix (James Rocchi)
Creepy, well-shot psycho-thriller features brilliant direction -- and an unforgettable turn from Robin Williams. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Netflix (James Rocchi)
Variety (Todd McCarthy)
This immaculately made first feature from noted musicvid and commercials director Mark Romanek provides Robin Williams with one of his creepiest, atypical roles, and the comic star responds with an unusually restrained performance that is, in the end, ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Variety (Todd McCarthy)
At-A-Glance Film Reviews (--)
Film Values/Family Values (H. Arthur Taussig)
Entertainmentopia
Mediasharx (Dustin Gast)
Projectionist (Sean Caszatt)
MovieFreak.com (Jon Bjorling)
This is Lancashire (--)
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland (John Urbancich)
... legitimate thrills and chills with minimal bloodshed and only suggested violence. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Sun Newspapers of Cleveland (John Urbancich)
Orlando Weekly (Steve Schneider)
An imperfectly plotted but terrifically eerie thriller that turns on Williams' haunting performance as a voyeuristic photo developer. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Orlando Weekly (Steve Schneider)
BeatBoxBetty.com (--)
While Robin 'Rubberface' Williams won't make you pee your pants from laughter -- he will manage to scare the smirk right off your face in this serious psychological thriller. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at BeatBoxBetty.com (--)
BeyondHollywood.com
Tiscali UK
In recent years Robin Williams has become a byword for the kind of schmaltzy, saccharine cinema that has made audiences worldwide feel somewhat queasy. Patch Adams, What Dreams May Come, Jakob the Liar and Bicentennial Man were all largely insufferable ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Tiscali UK
DVDwolf (Rob Paul)
UTK Daily Beacon (Lauren Byrd)
Entertain Your Brain! - Review
Cyber-Funk Online Review (Mirza mizi Causevic)
Movie Criticism for the Retarded
The Self-Made Critic
Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
artechock (André Grzeszyk)
CountingDown.com (Larry Carroll)
CountingDown.com (Larry Carroll)
The Hot Button (David Poland)
Movie Roundtable
Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Moovees.com (Jay Tierney)
Almost Fabulous Movie Reviews
JackassCritics.com (Grim Ringler)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
LowComDom Online Film Reviews
IndependentCritics.com (TC Candler)
Home Theater Info (Doug MacLean)
Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)
Frank's Reel Reviews
Statto's Movie Reviews.
Cinema Signals by The Filmiliar Cineaste
Arrow in the Head ("The Arrow")
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
He's a little too interested. You can tell he's lonely and needy. He longs to belong. And no one knows the half of it.
Seymour "Sy" Parrish lives an airtight life as meticulously maintained as the one-hour photo shop he manages. It's seemingly ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
USA Today (Claudia Puig)
It is a rare performance when one of the world's most recognizable stars can disappear completely into a character on the screen. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
One Hour Photo is a piece of often masterly image-making, a half-brilliant film with a revelatory lead performance by Williams. But it's also a thriller that gets trapped in surfaces: shiny, exciting, full of dread but often only tricks of the camera. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Shannon Patrick Sullivan
Three Movie Buffs (Scott Nash)
New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
Unlike Patch Adams, Sy is not lovable. But you wind up feeling for him, much as you feel for Sy's pet hamster on that endless wheel. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
ToxicUniverse.com (John Nesbit)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
The movie isn't as deep as it pretends to be, but it does have several nicely unexpected twists going for it. And it has Williams - memorably creepy, chillingly sad. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
One Hour Photo is an actor's triumph - a fitting destination for Robin Williams to reach after essaying increasingly darker and more dysfunctional characters in films like Death to Smoochy and Insomnia. The actor, who once was known almost exclusively for ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Palo Alto Online (Jim Shelby)
Eclipse Magazine (Sean O'Connell)
When Photo zooms in on the spectacular Williams, we’re riveted. The rest is underdeveloped. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Eclipse Magazine (Sean O'Connell)
San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
A dazzling feature debut for Romanek. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) (Greg Maki)
Williams is at his very best ... ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) (Greg Maki)
Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
An impressive debut ... rich with detail and cool-blue style. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Chauncey Mabe)
Together, Williams and Romanek have made a stalker thriller that's as much in sympathy with the loneliness and alienation of the putative villain as it is with the jeopardy of his potential victims. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Chauncey Mabe)
San Francisco Examiner (Joe Leydon)
One Hour Photo , the meticulously chilling drama that pivots on Sy's dangerous self-delusions, comes closer than any other thriller in recent memory to achieving the Hitchcockian ideal of mortal terror in broad daylight. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at San Francisco Examiner (Joe Leydon)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
It has Williams -- memorably creepy, chillingly sad. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
Denver Post (Steven Rosen)
A thought-provoking, artful accomplishment by writer/director Mark Romanek, who reveals a powerfully understated vision of the haunting loneliness behind the forced cheerfulness of the discount store. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Denver Post (Steven Rosen)
Audio Revolution
"One Hour Photo" is an impressive film, both for the directorial & writer debut of Mark Romanek (from rock videos), and for Robin Williams' near-perfect performance as a quiet, repressed one-hour photo clerk. Furthermore, for the first time, Williams, ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Audio Revolution
Hollywood.com (--)
La Presse, Montréal (--)
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Palo Alto Weekly (Jim Shelby)
Cinema Signals (Jules Brenner)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
"One Hour Photo rides on the back of the inspired performance by Robin Williams..." ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
All in all, One Hour Photo is an outstanding showcase for both the veteran star and the rookie filmmaker. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
Screendaily (Emanuel Levy)
Robin Williams' good work in contained in an uneven film, whose first half is an intriguing chronicle of urban alienation, but second part deteriorates into a presposterous thriller with a subplot of stalking and revenge--not unlike Fatal Attraction ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Screendaily (Emanuel Levy)
Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Williams finally gets a role so smartly written we forget not only that we are watching Williams the dramatic actor, but that we are watching Williams at all. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
The entire movie establishes a wonderfully creepy mood. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
Sacramento Bee (Joe Baltake)
Williams absolutely nails Sy's queasy infatuation and overall strangeness. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Sacramento Bee (Joe Baltake)
Aufmuth.com (Jeanne Aufmuth)
A finely nuanced character study of insecurity and suppressed malevolence. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Aufmuth.com (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
d+kaz. Intelligent Movie Reviews (Daniel Kasman)
Entertainment Weekly
In One Hour Photo, Williams is a snapshot of human complexity worth framing. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Entertainment Weekly
Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
One of the best examples of how to treat a subject, you’re not fully aware is being examined, much like a photo of yourself you didn’t know was being taken. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
What brings the film to a level beyond is Williams's superb performance and, in turn, Romanek's carefully calibrated direction. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Watching One Hour Photo , you think about the people you don't know but who are part of your life. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Reno Gazette-Journal (Forrest Hartman)
In a year that’s produced a number of competent thrillers, One Hour Photo is among the best. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Reno Gazette-Journal (Forrest Hartman)
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)
One Hour Photo has a great photographic sensibility (partly courtesy D.P. Jeff Cronenweth, who shot Fight Club ) and a near-mystical appreciation of the snapshot. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)
Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
Because Williams makes the isolation and resulting loneliness of his character so palpable, we are kept guessing as to what he might do when the strands of his fragile world begin to snap. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) (Judith Egerton)
This isn't the Williams of Mrs. Doubtfire or, thank heavens, Jack or What Dreams May Come. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) (Judith Egerton)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
The film's psychology is so thin you can see through it, but the monochromatic production design is almost biographical in nature and is supplemented by Williams' haunting performance. ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
Popkorn Junkie's Review
Exploded Goat review (Kent Conrad)
Entertainment Zone Review (Laura Alber)
Natural Born Viewers
MovieMaze (Thomas Straßer)
DVD Net (Anthony Horan)
It’s long been the burning ambition of music video directors everywhere to get into the more respectable world of feature film, and plenty of them have taken the plunge over the years since the video-clip boom. For years, though, seeing a music video ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at DVD Net (Anthony Horan)
Movie Views (Jamey Hughton)
DVDTown (John J. Puccio)
Reel.com (Rod Armstrong)
filethirteen.com
DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
JoBlo's Movie Emporium (JoBlo)
The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
The Spinning Image (Mary Sibley)
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Ain't It Cool News (Moriarty)
txreviews.com (Curtis Edmonds)
Movie-Vault.com ("Greg C.")
DVD Net (Terry Kemp)
As the rental version of One Hour Photo has been available for a while and already reviewed on this site, there seems little point in rehashing what has already been said. This ‘available for purchase’ version now comes with some decent extras that ...read the complete One Hour Photo movie review at DVD Net (Terry Kemp)
3 Black Chicks ("Bams")
Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
VideoVista