A story similar to Fatal Attraction but of inferior quality, Obsessed is lifted by an admirable performances by Idris Elba and Ali Larter but weighed down by a substandard performance by Beyonce Knowles, whose appearance is to obviously promote her singing career. Given the rehashed formula, director Steve Shill does the best with what he's given and proves that even a boiled down, heavy-handed premise can be worth a one-time viewing.
Successful financial advisor and happily married man Derek Charles (Idris Elba) is drawn into a nightmare when his new temp Lisa (Ali Larter) gets it into her head that they are meant for each other. Disregarding the fact that Derek is married, Lisa does all that she can to destroy his career and his blissful life by destroying the relationship he has with his beautiful wife and child. Soon he realizes that it not that easy to get an obsessed woman out of his life for good.
This psychological thriller possesses a little suspense, a few thrills, and enough cloak and dagger scenarios to keep viewers mildly entertained throughout its runtime of 108 minutes — just enough to be satisfied with its results and not regret it entirely. This is a B-rated guilty pleasure from beginning to end considering that, in retrospect, this is indeed not the best of thrillers and is essentially a remake of the critically acclaimed Fatal Attraction.
The climactic cat-fight scene is disappointingly lacking in the hair-pulling, clawing, shirt-ripping, and slapping that men are aroused by. However, there is still a certain complexity within this scene that manages to keep us both simultaneously tense and hungry for more.
In the end, the film may be sorely deficient in originality but still sustains enough interest to be watchable. It's not a great film, or even a good one, but a bearable one, which is far more than what I expected.
The special features include sections titled "Playing Together Nicely" which is a summary of the film's meaning and interviews with the cast and crew, "Girl Fight!" which interprets the different views and levels of enjoyment in the climactic fight scene between Beyonce and Larter, and "Dressed To Kill" which probes the many different wardr
obe selections and why they were appropriate for each character.
Also included with the DVD is a label to advertise Beyonce's newest album I Am...Sasha Fierce.
.jpg?t=20130517094513)
Article comments