Why does
watching “Obsessed” feel like sneaking a peek at the headlines of the National
Enquirer in the checkout line? The answer is that one big casting mistake can
turn any movie into a joke or a bore. This one is too scary to be a bore, but it
comes perilously close to being a joke. Let’s start with the story.
The story is
just fine for a premise dipped in horror. Stalking is a grisly fact of modern
crime and this is a crime movie based on the obsession of one woman for her
boss. At the office Christmas party, Lisa (Ali Larter), a new temp=2 0at the
company is crying in her cubicle after being dumped by her boyfriend – or so it
seems. Her boss, Derek (Idris Elba), comforts her with kindly encouragement.
For a few
tense moments we wonder whether it will be Derek or Lisa who will be the villain
of the piece. The answer explodes into the office air. Derek is a good, decent
man thoroughly committed to his wife and son and wants only to go home. Using
Glenn Close’s “Fatal Attraction” as her template, Lisa indulges herself for the
rest of the movie in flagrant, flamboyant craziness that is so exaggerated we
are embarrassed for the actress and her interpretation of her role.
Neither his
colleagues nor Human Resources nor the police can save poor Derek from this sick
woman. Back home, wife Sharon (Beyonce Knowles), is forced to marinate herself
in jealous fury. It’s a thankless, one-note role for Beyonce who can’t find a
way to throw some seasonings into the mix. In the early scenes of20the happy
marriage, she is adequate, but her screaming, distrustful wife grows tiresome
within minutes. What does happen though is that, contrary to the mild Hollywood
catfight tradition, the two women go at each other in ferocious fury. What
weapon was on the wall in Act I? Well, consider the glass coffee table and the
skylight.
Christine
Lahti brings sanity to this mess as a detective assigned to decide who’s nuts.
It’s nice to have her stabilizing influence but her role as Reese is given
little influence on the story or the characters. All the power to disrupt and
destroy is handed to Ali Larter’s Lisa and she so overdoes it she surely would
have been sent to the lock up. She manipulates every moment, jumping into
Derek’s car and throwing open her coat to reveal, guess what, a bikini. But it
isn’t so much these old hat tricks that disturb, it’s the mental illness behind
it. Stalkers seem to believe they have a right to their prey and that, all by
itself, is terrifying.
The only
memorable thing here is the acting of Idris Elba and a twist near the end that
leaves the audience breathless, if insulted, for roughly two minutes.
Unfortunately, this movie is trash and doesn’t even qualify as a guilty
pleasure.
Copyright (c) Illusion