| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | OBSESSED (2009) |
| Director | Steve Shill |
| Writer | David Loughery |
| Lead Actor | Beyoncé |
| Cast | Beyoncé, Idris Elba, Ali Larter |
| Genre | Romance, Drama, Thriller |
| Release Date | April 24, 2009 (United States) |
| Duration | 1 hour 48 minutes |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Language | English |
| IMDB Rating | 5.0/10 |
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Positive Aspects of OBSESSED (2009)
“Obsessed” follows in the footsteps of other films, most notably “Fatal Attraction”, in telling the story of a man stalked by a psychotic woman desiring his affection. Aside from the fact that Derek Charles (Idris Elba) never sleeps with beautiful temp worker Lisa (Ali Larter), the differences are largely cosmetic, and with popstar Beyonce stepping in as Derek’s wife.
That is not to say that there are not good moments to enjoy in this scenario. Although Derek clearly has some moments where he thinks about being with Lisa, the fact that he sticks to his guns and refuses her makes him quite likeable and makes Lisa’s character appear more villainous and despicable despite her mental disorder. Three quarters of the film is focused squarely on Derek’s character, and Idris Elba does quite a good job at grounding him out and make him real. His otherwise calm exterior which occasionally explodes when Lisa goes too far is perfectly captured in his performance, as is the character’s sense of frustration and anger as Lisa twists the situation to favour her at every opportunity.
The film is reasonably well shot, and is paced about right, allowing you time to get in to the lives of the characters and be enveloped in Derek’s situation with Lisa as it slowly spirals out of control. The climax of the film is a lot of fun (whether it is supposed to be or not), with Beyonce turning in to big mama on campus and kicking Lisa’s butt all over the house. “Obsessed” has some fun moments to enjoy, and a well rounded performance by Idris Elba.
Drawbacks of OBSESSED (2009)
“Obsessed” is not a waste of time, but it has all be done before. Ali Larter does a reasonable job of playing the psychotic, obsessed woman but the performance is ultimately two-dimensional and flat, with the script not giving her much to do other than pull crazy faces and go in to action mode. There are never any moments where you truly feel how mad she is. Beyonce’s involvement in the film is problematic.
Although her performance is reasonable in some places (mainly in the end), the filmmakers have clearly had a problem with how to utilise her character. The film clearly belongs to Derek’s character; Beyonce does not really have much to do until the last third of the film where for some reason, the filmmakers decide that the film should be about her character instead, even finishing on her as the last shot of the film.
This unevenness makes for a badly structured and dissatisfying conclusion although it is fun seeing Beyonce and Ali Larter fight each other, one cannot help but wonder that Derek’s character should have been involved right to the end, or, Beyonce should have had a larger role in order to make her character significant to the story to justify such a big ending for her character.
Aside from the big fight at the end, Beyonce ends up having to create a character who is very harsh to her husband, perhaps with a good reason, but not understandably so and it is somewhat embarrassing to watch as Beyonce does not have the acting chops to sell it. At any rate, “Obsessed” is just an extremely watered down version of “Fatal Attraction” which fails to duplicate anything that was successful about that film.
Final Verdict
Aside from some moments of fun, particularly in the climax, “Obsessed” is a lame thriller which basically duplicates the pinnacle of the genre “Fatal Attraction” but without a decent script, direction or acting (with the exception of Idris Elba).
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