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In the style of American Beauty , new movie One Hour Photo takes a sideways look at the 'American Dream'.

One Hour Photo

Mark Romanek's debut feature One Hour Photo stars Robin Williams, in a role that has been described as "the most significant image overhaul since Travolta traded up from Look Who's Talking to Pulp Fiction." (Gear Magazine)

Academy Award(s) winner Williams portrays Sy Parrish, a lonely photo technician at the local supermarket. When events threaten to disrupt the lives of the picture-perfect family he has become obsessed with, Parrish will stop at nothing to preserve the homelife he has grown to think of as his own. Box Office Magazine commented "Not since American Beauty has a film so effectively skewered the American Dream."

How Robin Got Here

Robin Williams received both the 'Best Supporting Actor' Academy Award and the Screen Actors Guild Actor award for his compassionate, intelligent portrayal of Dr. Sean McGuire in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting.

His first feature film was Robert Altman’s Popeye, in 1980. Audiences then embraced a more poignant Williams in his portrayal of T.S. Garp in George Roy Hill’s hugely successful The World According to Garp, followed by Paul Mazursky’s Moscow on the Hudson. Barry Levinson’s landmark film Good Morning Vietnam earned Williams his first Academy Award nomination, with Peter Weir’s enormously popular Dead Poets Society, earning him a second Oscar® nomination.

Subsequently Williams starred opposite Robert De Niro in Penny Marshall’s Awakenings (bringing him a special honor from the National Board of Review) followed by Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King, for which Williams received his third Academy Award® nomination. He also starred in Barry Levinson’s Toys, Steven Spielberg’s Hook, and Mike Nichols’ The Birdcage.

Williams received Golden Globe Awards for his unforgettable performances in Mrs. Doubtfire and The Fisher King, and also earned a Special Achievement Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for his vocal contributions as Genie in the animated blockbuster feature Aladdin.

Recently, Williams’ successes have included Les Mayfield’s Flubber and the 1998 box office hit Patch Adams, directed by Tom Shadyac. In 1999, Williams executive produced and starred in Blue Wolf Productions’ Jakob The Liar, a story of life in a Nazi-occupied Polish ghetto. In 2000, he again teamed-up with director Chris Columbus in the screen adaptation of the Isaac Asimov story Bicentennial Man.

First capturing the attention of television audiences when he guest-starred as Mork on the hit sit-com Happy Days, Williams was quickly signed for the spin-off series Mork and Mindy. Williams, who began his career as a stand-up comedian, has won four Grammy Awards, including one for Robin Williams Live at the Met, the culmination of a 23-city tour.

Debut Film

One Hour Photo - released on 4 October - marks the screenwriting and directorial debut of veteran music video director Mark Romanek . During his 11-year career, Romanek has made groundbreaking videos for artists including Madonna, Beck, Lenny Kravitz, Macy Gray, David Bowie, R.E.M., Janet Jackson and has received numerous accolades, including more than a dozen MTV Video Awards, two Grammys and three Billboard Music Awards.

Two of Romanek's music videos, Madonna's Bedtime Story and Nine Inch Nails's Closer have become part of the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art. In 1997, MTV presented Romanek with the prestigious Video Vanguard award, honouring his unprecedented achievement in the art of music video.

One Hour Photo is produced by Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, whose joint credits include arthouse classics Happiness, I Shot Andy Warhol, Kids and Go Fish, along with Academy Award winner Boys Don't Cry; and by Stan Wlodkowski, who co-produced American Beauty. The film co-stars Connie Neilson (Gladiator), Michael Vartan (Never Been Kissed) and Eriq La Salle (ER).

One Hour Photo is out now.

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