No, no it didn't. It's an excellent film. Four stars all the way. Three and a half, minimum. Even if you didn't like the ending (which, I disagree with you on that of course, but what's a nigga gonna do, he's Samoan), you have to at least appreciate how very, very well made it was.

Very.

Great, now you've ruined the whole fucking movie. I was thinking back to that scene, and remembering some of the language Cy used, I can see now that the scene does play that way, and in fact was [i]intended[/i] to play that way. But that's not the way it played for me when I was watching the movie, and the way it played for me when I was watching the movie was the way I liked better. It painted Cy in a more sympathetic, more [i]interesting[/i] light to make the whole thing a thought-out ploy for a specific effect on the Yorkin family rather than a pitiful reenactment of childhood tragedy.

But, you're right, damn you. I renig my initial opinion: One-Hour Photo did suck.

KINDA SPOILER!!!!



[quote="Debaser"]In any case, I don't see how the whole monologue bit shines any light on either of the above, except in the vaguest "he doesn't have a healthy attitude towards intercourse" sense.[/quote]

He was making the couple do exactly what he was forced to do as a child. He was taking on the role of his own father.

[quote="pinback"][quote="Debaser"]Why do you say that? He likes families, he doesn't have one, he wishes he did and so he imagines himself into one. He's profoundly lonely, and that worked plenty well enough for me for the first 99% of the movie.[/quote]

No, baby. That's not what I'm talking about. I said, how would the movie explain (and what then would the significance be) of the [i]specific "actions"[/i] that Cy takes [i]in the hotel room[/i] at the end of the movie. I'm talking [i]specifics[/i] here. I'm also talkin [i]in italics[/i].[/quote]

What, the whole "no-touching" bit? Choose from:

A. He's fucking with them. He didn't want to kill Will, didn't want to do any sort of physical damage to him, but he did want to [i]hurt[/i] him. So he just scared the crap out of him.

B. He wants Will to live out his crime against the family in a way that would turn it from something pleasurable into something terrifying. But he doesn't want to actually encourage Will to actually perpetuate the betrayal.

Or are you talking about what it turns out he was actually taking photos [i]of[/i]. Note that that isn't revealed until after the monologue for one thing, and I read it as a note that, for Cy, the [i]sex[/i] wasn't the important bit at all. In fact, the exact opposite of what the monologue'sl revelation might indicate, he's not interested in the sex [i]at all[/i], except in its role as a betrayal of Nina and (whatever the fuck the kid's name was).

In any case, I don't see how the whole monologue bit shines any light on either of the above, except in the vaguest "he doesn't have a healthy attitude towards intercourse" sense.

If you're talking about something else, you're going to have to give me more direction in order to find it.

[quote="Debaser"]Why do you say that? He likes families, he doesn't have one, he wishes he did and so he imagines himself into one. He's profoundly lonely, and that worked plenty well enough for me for the first 99% of the movie.[/quote]

No, baby. That's not what I'm talking about. I said, how would the movie explain (and what then would the significance be) of the [i]specific "actions"[/i] that Cy takes [i]in the hotel room[/i] at the end of the movie. I'm talking [i]specifics[/i] here. I'm also talkin [i]in italics[/i].

[quote="pinback"]Without the monologue, how can the film explain Cy's "actions" in the hotel room? And what significance would those actions have to the viewer? No, I don't think it ruined the movie at all. I think without the information that is provided in the monologue, the movie would have suffered far more. Specifically, it wouldn't have made any sense.[/quote]

Why do you say that? He likes families, he doesn't have one, he wishes he did and so he imagines himself into one. He's profoundly lonely, and that worked plenty well enough for me for the first 99% of the movie. Seeing Will possess everything Cy ever wanted and then just shitting all over it enraged him (in a quiet, Cy the Photo Guy sort of way), and seeing the Nina just lie there and take it after she found out was too much for him. So he created a giant todo with police and strangers to force Nina to address the issue, to acknowledge that she knew, after which point the two of them could no longer maintain the pleasant facade. He's essentially sacrificing himself to either save the Yorkin family (by forcing it to acknowledge and overcome its failings), or else to destroy in a petulant rage because it failed to be what he wanted it to be. I don't know which, and I'm not sure Cy knew which, but either sufficed as an explanation for the entire film.

The whole wounded inner-kiddy "Psych 101" thing was tacked on, false, and unneccessary.

Without the monologue, how can the film explain Cy's "actions" in the hotel room? And what significance would those actions have to the viewer? No, I don't think it ruined the movie at all. I think without the information that is provided in the monologue, the movie would have suffered far more. Specifically, it wouldn't have made any sense.

I saw One Hour Photo last night. Not the greatest film ever, but I'll put it in the "doesn't suck" category. Very nice of Robin to finally graduate from "exuberant man-child" to "creepy man-child", but really it's a leap I managed to make at twenty, so I'm not going to give him too much credit for finally managing it about a decade after it was necessary to salvage his career.

Does anyone else think that Cy's final monologue, where he reveals a [i]tragic secret[/i] about himself kind of... well, ruined the movie's a little to strong, but let's just say it was very ill advised.