This all changes when Sy learns some ugly truth about the family and eventually snaps, igniting a situation that threatens the safety of others. Nina Yorkin (Connie Nielsen) has been taking the family photos to the SavMart one hour photo booth, to which Sy has made himself copies of all photos, posting them as a collage on his apartment wall and also uses them to live vicariously through the Yorkins. One Hour Photo is a 2002 film starring Robin Williams as Sy Parrish, a one hour photo technician who appears harmless, but has actually been stalking a young suburban family for nearly ten years: the Yorkins. One Hour Photo provides one such example of this type of “bad guy,” yet when one understands the psychology of the character, it immediately becomes obvious that they deserve help opposed to punishment. In fact, people hurt in plain sight and very easily they can snap if people ignore the warning signs. This contrasts greatly with our first impression of Sy upon the opening of the film, which functions greatly as part of the underlying theme of the film: The “bad guys” do not always fit within the binaries of moral versus immoral. Yet by the conclusion of the film, even though Sy has indeed committed a crime, we cannot help but feel pity for him.

For the remainder of the film, we are bracing for a horrid crime that has devastated many. He fits the typical profile and we assume he has committed the worst. Once we hear the voice of a police officer demanding Sy step to the left for a profile photo, we as the audience realize this is a “bad guy.” He has clearly done something that has caused him to be arrested, and given his appearance, we instantly label him as a deviant. His clothes are devoid of any exuberance and limited to basic colors, mostly white.

He wears eye glasses that are out of style. His facial expression is grim and defeated.

The camera flashes and we are engulfed in white light before witnessing the digital image of Sy Parrish (Robin Williams) uploading on a computer monitor. The movie opens to the ominous score written by Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek and the visual of a police camera seemingly pointed at us. *Warning: Feature contains descriptions of the film plot and spoilers

One hour photo film