Movie Info:
Writer: David Loughery
Director: Steve Shill
Cast: Idris Elba, Beyoncé Knowles, Ali Larter, Jerry O’Connell, Bonnie Perlman, Christine Lahti
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Sony Pictures
Release Info:
Theatrical Release: April 24, 2009
DVD Release Date: August 4, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $25.99
I am rarely surprised by movies, but every now and then one comes along and surprises me. Obsessed is one of those movies that had me surprised. For starters, Beyonce is in this and doesn’t sing. It’s like seeing a John Travolta movie where he doesn’t dance. The entire event is one that leaves people shocked. While it’s a rare thing, Beyonce manages to excel in her role as a strong and confident wife and mother that is willing to stop at nothing to protect her family.
This was not the thing that surprised me the most though. The movie itself was quite surprising because the trailer did a good job at deceiving viewers, or at least they managed to deceive me. I’d planned to see Obsessed from the first viewing of the trailer, but after seeing the movie I realized that I didn’t know as much about the film as I originally thought. If you go into this film thinking that it’s going to be about infidelity then you will be wrong. The plot actually has a much more demented, confused tone to it. I mean that in the best of ways. Obsessed was actually better than I had thought it was going to be, and I thought I was going to like it from the beginning.
One of the best things about this movie is Ali Larter’s character. I’ve always found Larter to play in some interesting roles. The fact that she exudes sex appeal does not hurt either. Larter plays the obsessed, Lisa, a temp worker at a law firm that needs some serious psychiatric help. Calling her a fruitcake would be putting it mildly. Of course, in true movie fashion she doesn’t just sit around on her own. She sets out to infect the world with her madness. Two of the people she infects the most are Derek Charles (Idris Elba) and his wife Sharon (Beyonce).
The biggest problem for me, when it comes to Obsessed are flaws in the writing. Some of the most suspenseful moments are ill conceived at best. For example, Lisa quits working at the office and is gone for months, but all it takes is one phone call to get information from her cliche, stereotypical gay secretary friend, Patrick (Matthew Humphreys). The other problem is that it’s hard to sympathize or relate to either of the women. Both of them are incredibly flawed. Lisa is just insane. Sharon, though, is insecure, irrational, and late to the party when it comes to believing in her relationship. While she is more relateable because she would do anything to protect her family, she also makes plenty of mistakes along the way. Had the characters had more likability attached it would have been an even more enjoyable film.
Obsessed is not a truly original concept, but it offers some fun qualities. The acting isn’t bad, the writing could have been better, but it gets by on an average sense, and the result is decent. I received this in Blu-ray and enjoyed watching it. While I have gotten rid of many review copies in the past, after my reviews were done, I think I will be holding on to this one. It will make for fair rainy night movie watching when a crazy blonde is all that will fit the bill.
The Obsessed Plot
Derek Charles seems to be the man that has it all. He has looks, a beautiful wife, and an adorable son. He is a successful businessman that just received a huge promotion. He bought an amazing house and it doesn’t look like the sun is going to stop shining on him. When Derek meets Lisa, a temp coming in to work at his office, he doesn’t think anything of it. She’s just another girl in the office and he’s an incredibly happy married man. It is obvious from the jump though that his polite nature is taken the wrong way and she is almost instantly attracted.
Like most men, Derek has a degree of foolishness about him when it comes to women. It’s almost as if he doesn’t notice Lisa and how she flirts with him the way she does. When Derek finds Lisa crying in the lunchroom, for example, he cannot help but try and soothe her and pick her spirits up. It doesn’t take long before Lisa is working at Derek’s desk and his wife Sharon is accessing the situation. Sharon doesn’t like Lisa because she is well aware of what she is capable of concerning her husband. Likewise, the current Mrs. Charles was once his secretary, so she isn’t interested in him having another female secretary. In fact, it upsets her greatly when she discovers that Lisa is temping for him. Of course, Derek remains blind to the truth.
All of the men at the office are either unfaithful or big talkers. Derek’s best friend Ben (Jerry O’Connell) could only wish that someone like Lisa would pay attention to him. Little does he know Lisa is a psychopath. When Derek avoids or ignores Lisa’s advances she tries to rape him at the Christmas Party. When that doesn’t work she continues her relentless pursuit. Derek, believing he can handle it himself, and being somewhat embarrassed, doesn’t tell his wife what is going on. Unfortunately, when Lisa ends up in a truly dangerous and compromising situation, Sharon finds out and jumps to the ultimate conclusion about the loyalty of her husband.
With a psychopath willing to do anything to get rid of Derek’s family to make room for her and their “love” and a wife that is questioning every move that he makes, Derek needs to act quick to show where his priorities really remain. No matter what Derek does, Lisa remains faithfully by his side, just waiting for the day that Sharon leaves, in whatever way possible.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
Obsessed offers an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 with 1080p. The result is a quality that stands out. It’s obvious to tell that this is a new film because it’s free of all those unsightly defects that people complain about. You won’t find any dust, spatter, noise or grain in this transfer. It’s all clear and smooth sailing the entire way through. The level of detail is acceptable and the overall look of the film is sharp. As you would expect from a Blu-ray transfer the colors pop in all the right places.
Lisa wears a lot of bright colors. The reds are vibrant without bleeding and the blues are dark and full bodied. Likewise, the black levels are fair, too. There isn’t much to say in a negative sense here. Much of the film offers a comfortable, subtle color palette to it and that works perfectly here. This isn’t one of those movies where Blu-ray truly shines, but things do look amazing and there is nothing to complain about.
The audio comes in with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack that hits all the right notes. The sound effects are spot on, the dialogue is crystal clear, and the music (though sometimes a little to presumptuous with the anticipation/thriller music) sounds great. The smallest noises are heard perfectly and the surround speaker functionality is used when it makes sense and is possible. This doesn’t rely on only the front channels. In fact, this is quite the opposite. Of course, it is dialogue driven so there are parts that will seem fairly basic. Along with the English audio there are Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks in French and Portuguese and a Spanish track in Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Visual:
Audio:
Bonus Features:
Obsessed offers three featurettes, a slew of movie previews, and some BD Live features that were not available when this review went live. Before the movie begins previews are available for Sony Blu-ray, Not Easily Broken, and Cadillac Records. Also accessible through the Previews menu are The Da Vinci Code Extended Cut, Lakeview Terrace, The Pursuit of Happyness, Stomp the Yard, First Sunday, Seven Pounds, and Blu-Ray is High Definition. The three featurettes are listed in more detail below. No commentary is included in this set.
“Playing Together Nicely”: This featurette incorporates clips from the movie and melds them with interviews with the screenwriter, producer, and other members of the cast and crew. The screenwriter talks about the project and how he got involved, how he got the script together and how quickly and well things came together. The producer, William Packer talks about how amazing the film is and how it manages to surprise people. Meanwhile, the Director talks about how he got involved because of the psycho-drama and because of Beyonce.
There is a lot of backpatting going on. Beyonce pats the director’ back and he goes on and pats hers, too. Beyonce does mention how this role is different for her and soon after Idris Elba is around to pat some more backs like everyone else before him. There are plenty of spoilers included in this so you won’t want to watch it before the movie, if you decide to watch it at all.
“Girl Ffight”: This should be fairly obvious just by the title. Lance Gilbert is on hand to talk about the stunts for the main fight scene in the film. Gilbert felt the shoot was great and things went well. They show some of the scene and how things were played out. They also showed the choreography and the stunt girls doing their thing. A rousing rendition from the guys on how girl’s fight “screaming, bitch slapping, hair pulling”, etc is also included. The majority of the scene was actually the main girls working over the stunt doubles. Larter likes doing her stunts or as many as she can before they pull her out. Beyonce also enjoyed herself. There are some scene spoilers to explain how things were done.
“Obsessed: Dressed to Kill”: Again this is pretty self-explanatory. Jon Gary is on hand to talk about lighting and how the film needed to offer a darker look as opposed to one filled with light. His part is minimal though, and soon we are hearing form the costume designer. She talks about how Sharon needed a different look from Lisa. She explains how certain outfits fit with the type and personality of the characters. Ali was instrumental in choosing an article of clothing that is quite significant between the two women.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
Obsessed isn’t going to win the prize for the best movie of the year, but if you want to be entertained this might do the trick. Larter is sexy, Elba is talented, and Beyonce manages to handle her role without much problem. While the writing could have produced a tighter story, the actors work with what they have and they make it watchable. I recommend checking this out to see if you will like it and buying it if you learn that you do.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Obsessed, Sony Pictures, Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray Review, Ali Larter, Thriller, Movie Review
