This film was far better than I expected.
*** SPOILER ALERT, SORT-OF *** What could have easily, on a number of occasions, turned into a story filled with cliches and formulas seen a dozen times before in movies about psychologically disturbed people, the director-writer chooses instead (to his credit) to make this a study of a character, with actual character development. I expected, so many times, that a certain standard Hollywood plot twist would naturally happen, but it did not. I thank the writer-director for such inventiveness and restraint. Robin Williams, along with the script and direction, takes what would otherwise be a two-dimensional character (Sy Parrish, or "Sy the Photo Guy"), and develops him (pun intended) in various ways. The most important way is to allow the audience see the peels coming off the seemingly rigid outside of an otherwise fragile, insecure, soft-in-the-middle, and pathetic human being. But Williams is so good at this role, that we even are allowed to feel empathy (not sorry, not pity) for this lonely man, this truly disturbed, isolated individual. And we even get to understand him, thanks to the writer!, quite the opposite of what we expect when Hollywood uses a plot about a dangerous person. This is not an evil person -- it is someone who desperately needs to feel loved and needed. Then two events shatter his entire self-made life, and he becomes downright scary.
When Sy's isolation and how he deals with it, is depicted throughout, the Simon and Garfunkel song "I Am a Rock" somehow comes to mind. Also, early in the film, when we first see Sy sitting alone watching "The Simpsons" (a cartoon family, just as unreal as the seemingly ideal family he develops in his own mind), and as the camera pulls back, we see the extent of his obsession and madness. But it reminds you of the Robert DeNiro character rehearsing at his home in "The King of Comedy".
I think that Robin Williams should expect at least a nomination for best actor. He is superb as someone who is both chilling and frightening and also who needs to be loved and treated with care. His Sy Parrish might end up being as famous as Norman Bates and Travis Bickel.
*** SPOILER ALERT, SORT-OF *** What could have easily, on a number of occasions, turned into a story filled with cliches and formulas seen a dozen times before in movies about psychologically disturbed people, the director-writer chooses instead (to his credit) to make this a study of a character, with actual character development. I expected, so many times, that a certain standard Hollywood plot twist would naturally happen, but it did not. I thank the writer-director for such inventiveness and restraint. Robin Williams, along with the script and direction, takes what would otherwise be a two-dimensional character (Sy Parrish, or "Sy the Photo Guy"), and develops him (pun intended) in various ways. The most important way is to allow the audience see the peels coming off the seemingly rigid outside of an otherwise fragile, insecure, soft-in-the-middle, and pathetic human being. But Williams is so good at this role, that we even are allowed to feel empathy (not sorry, not pity) for this lonely man, this truly disturbed, isolated individual. And we even get to understand him, thanks to the writer!, quite the opposite of what we expect when Hollywood uses a plot about a dangerous person. This is not an evil person -- it is someone who desperately needs to feel loved and needed. Then two events shatter his entire self-made life, and he becomes downright scary.
When Sy's isolation and how he deals with it, is depicted throughout, the Simon and Garfunkel song "I Am a Rock" somehow comes to mind. Also, early in the film, when we first see Sy sitting alone watching "The Simpsons" (a cartoon family, just as unreal as the seemingly ideal family he develops in his own mind), and as the camera pulls back, we see the extent of his obsession and madness. But it reminds you of the Robert DeNiro character rehearsing at his home in "The King of Comedy".
I think that Robin Williams should expect at least a nomination for best actor. He is superb as someone who is both chilling and frightening and also who needs to be loved and treated with care. His Sy Parrish might end up being as famous as Norman Bates and Travis Bickel.