Obsessed

Title: Obsessed
Director: Steve Shill
Actors: Idris Elba, Beyonce Knowles, Ali Larter

This is a good movie. Not because of anything extraordinary, like action sequences or drama. It's a good movie because it's accessible. It could happen to you. Ever experience an overzealous co-worker, or acquaintance? Yeah, kinda like that.

This is a classic three act play.

Act 1: We meet the principal players. We get to know them and like them, or dislike them as the case may be. Everything is idillic. Happy family, good friends, great job, nice home. Then we meet the game changer. Lisa, played by Ali Larter, starts off as a love sick temp. She gets intense real quick. And poor Derek, the object of her affection, played by Idris Elba. He doesn't stand a chance. He's embarrassed, outraged and more than a little worried. I mean, the girl could claim he harassed her and, let's face it, the system is set up to protect women. He's afraid if he complains, it will backfire and he'll lose everything. So he keeps fairly quiet.

Act 2: The obsession becomes public. Or, as Lisa would like to say, "The affair becomes public." She drops in unexpectedly, making another play for Derek. He's shocked, angry, and definitely scared (but in a manly way). At one point she claims to be his wife and he somewhat violently rebuffs her. He later finds her in his bed, overdosed on a prescription in an attempt to commit suicide. The police become involved. And so does his wife, Sharon, played by Beyonce. This act culminates in a frustrating scene in the home, after an interview with the police. Sharon is *so* not happy.

Act 3: Things are getting back to normal. Lisa was taken away by her sister, now all that's left is for the family to come back together. They're working on it, and it's going well. What spurs on the mending is a common enemy, Lisa. She returns and scares the shit out of everyone. Seriously, who knows what a crazy, delusional person will do.

This is pretty much everyone's worst nightmare. A crazy, delusional person, who believes, with all their heart that something is true. Don't try to reason with someone like that cause it just won't work.

The suspense was well done, although I think it was mostly created by the creepy, suspenseful music. I mean, they took seriously mundane things and tried to make it a suspense moment. For example, Derek gets into the office, he pulls out his chair, sits down and clicks his mouse. I honestly don't even remember what his facial expressions were like because I was listening to the creepy music thinking, "Hmm, I guess they had some extra 'suspense music' to use up." Minor thing.

The action in the final scene was well done. The fight choreography was exceptional. It felt real, like an actual fight. No fancy moves, no super human strength or resilliance. If there was a hit, there was blood and bruising and stumbling and loss of breath. When they fell down the stairs it took them a moment to get themselves back together before they started back up again. Like they were human and they'd been hurt. Believable is what I'm trying to say I guess.

Ali Larter did a superb job as the mental girl Lisa. She's scary and pitiful and hateful all at the same time. Plus, she has awesome hair!

Beyonce also did an excellent job, which was somewhat surprising. I know she got tons of accolades for her performance in Dreamgirls, but to be honest, I didn't think it was *that* good. She did ok, in my estimation. Her performance here, as Sharon, was better by far. Maybe she's taken some acting classes, maybe it was the direction. Who knows. But she totally stole the show in the final act. Totally believable. And she had some great lines to work with, too. "Imma wipe the floor with your skinny white butt!" I laughed and cheered mentally.

I have to say that while the whole situation was totally believable, I was frustrated as a viewer. Which, I guess, says something good about the director and the movie in general. I cared enough to get frustrated, but not so much so that I gave up. I was frustrated because of the lack of communication. That always seems to be the critical thing in plots. A simple lack of communication keeps the plot going in some movies, which I feel makes them totally pointless. In this movie it did play a somewhat important part. It added drama and tension between Derek and Sharon. Could it have worked without it? Yes. But it would have been a much shorter film.

All in all: very good movie! Highly recommended. Suspense was great, acting was great, action was great. Plus you learn a valuable lesson: COMMUNICATE!!!

Until next time!