A Review Of OBSESSED

Temp Stalks Happily-Married Boss In Harrowing Psychological Thriller

By Kam Williams
(April 27, 2009)

Derek Charles (Idris Elba) is on top of the world, having recently been promoted to Executive Vice President at Gage Bendix, a leading, Los Angeles investment house.

Furthermore, the coveted asset manager, who couldn't be more in love with his beautiful wife, Sharon (Beyonce'), and adorable young son, Kyle (Nathan and Nicolas Myers), has just purchased a sprawling, suburban McMansion for his picture-perfect family.

However, Derek has no idea that their American Dream is about to morph into a never-ending nightmare the fateful morning he crosses paths with Lisa Sheridan (Ali Larter), an attractive stranger who flirts with him on the elevator on his way to work.

They exit together on his floor where, to his surprise, he soon discovers that she has already been assigned by her temp agency to fill-in for his secretary, Patrick (Matthew Humphreys), who's out with the flu.

Derek knows that this arrangement won't sit well with Sharon, since he's promised her he'd never hire another female assistant because their love had blossomed out of an office romance. Yet, against his better judgment, he not only lets Lisa stay for the rest of the day but even allows her to remain with the firm indefinitely after Patrick returns from sick leave.

Meanwhile, Lisa's inappropriate behavior gradually escalates from crying on Derek's shoulder over martinis to cornering him for a kiss under the mistletoe at the company Christmas Party to following him into the men's room to trying to seduce him in the parking garage and more. Inexplicably, Derek proves to be either too polite, too flattered or too dense (or maybe a combination of all of the above) to fire Lisa on the spot. Instead, he recklessly risks both his career and his marriage by failing to mention to his wife or his boss (Bruce McGill) that he's being stalked by a delusional employee who craves his body.

Superficially, the plotline of Obsessed reads like a thinly-veiled remake of Fatal Attraction, as it features so many similarities to that classic thriller that the original's scriptwriter, James Dearden, deserves to share a credit for the screenplay. Whether it's the suicidal sexpot, the kidnapping of Derek's son, his fed-up wife's being forced to take the law into her own hands, or the femme fatale having nine lives in the climactic finale, the story often looks like a line-by-line rip-off.

Nonetheless, that being said, the three principal cast members throw themselves into their respective roles with such gusto that they manage to generate a palpable tension which makes this B-version feel genuinely fresh and exciting. Idris Elba rises to the challenge of playing his clueless character convincingly, while Beyonce' is just as good as the doubting spouse with serious trust issues. But it is Ali Larter as home wrecking Lisa who steals the movie by serving up a scary screen monster so despicable you'll be cheering with relief by the time she finally gets her comeuppance.

A cautionary reminder that Hell still hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially when she's a crazy, two-faced psycho.
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, violence, suggestive dialogue and mature themes.
Running time: 105 minutes
Studio: Screen Gems

 

Don't know why some of you are so "obsessed" about this film but if you are going to post reviews of it lets be honest and point out how most folks slammed this fim. Big time! Choosing Kam's review is a bit disingenuous because Kam almost always has something nice to say about a movie with black characters. So I'm countering my boy noble's sample review with one of my own. The review below is more typical of the type one can actually find for this movie.


http://www.darkhorizons.com/reviews/914/Obsessed/




By Brian Orndorf April


After two failed shots to nab Oscar gold with “Dreamgirls” and last year’s underwhelming “Cadillac Records,” Beyonce Knowles is ready to get her hands dirty. Summoning the spirits of the dearly departed blaxploitation genre, Knowles has selected “Obsessed” as her initial step to becoming more than just a rabid prestige hunter and ideal object of stunt casting agents.

This is the lauded singer’s first non-singing starring vehicle, and she’s chosen wisely. What better way to show some imposing box office muscle than to headline a trashy, empty calorie thriller that plays with racial bugaboos and DTV slasher conventions for a cheap, conversation-with-the-screen response. Oh my, this picture is junk food, but worse, it’s an absolute toothless bore.

A talented corporate drone, Derek (Idris Elba, “The Wire”) is on the verge of great professional success, while also tending to his domestic duties with loving wife Sharon (Beyonce Knowles) and their infant son. When Derek is introduced to sultry office temp Lisa (Ali Larter, “Heroes”), a series of harmless flirtations transforms into a serious situation of potential infidelity, leaving poor Derek in a panic. When Lisa’s playful sexuality turns into an alarming bout of stalking, Derek is forced to explain his temptations to a suspicious Sharon, who, as any territorial wife would, rises to the occasion, defending her husband’s honor to the bitter end.

One of the many problems that plague “Obsessed” is the character of Lisa.
Modeled after Glenn Close’s bravura turn in “Fatal Attraction,” Lisa, as interpreted poorly by the limited Larter, is a stormy ocean of psychological disease, only she never makes a salient point. With a film titled “Obsessed,” one would think a little naughty fire in the nether regions is enough to build a central battery of suspense, but director Steve Shill and writer David Loughery fail to offer the character a tangible point of view. Lisa is a stock villain character, parading around in high heels, providing zero motivation; she’s a cherry-lipped boogeyman meant to titillate and revolt, but the proper response to the role is laughter. Larter wildly overplays the sex kitten nonsense to a point of uncomfortable camp. And if the central figure of menace is a joke, imagine how unrelentingly goofy the rest of “Obsessed” gets.

As much as I like Elba as an actor (he can be phenomenal), “Obsessed” is way below his skill level. It’s a hackneyed, tacky suspense film struggling to tighten a noose around the neck of the audience that was never properly fashioned in the first place. Elba displays his best faces of terror, but when Lisa’s unholy stalking alchemy consists of spam e-mails and fraudulent flower deliveries, there’s really no reason for the actor to even stay awake. Shill doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing, clutching the wooby of cliché like a filmmaking infant. “Obsessed” is allowed some room for silliness, but only if the material maintains a proper edge. The discomfort never arrives, mostly due to the PG-13 rating that keeps Lisa’s panties on her body instead of where they truly belong: in Derek’s mouth. And I mean that metaphorically. A dastardly sneak attack concerning a drugged beverage is also neutered by the rating, turning an unsettling hotel room violation into a vague game of “did they/didn’t they” the film never answers. If you’re a sexually charged thriller and you can’t even play the rape card, then what good are you?

Regardless of the ineffective tension build, most of the target demo is here to watch Beyonce beat up a skinny, blonde white girl, and Shill is more than happy to dish the violence up for the finale (the film’s alleged working title was “Oh No She Didn’t”). Knowles is an unforgivably terrible actress, but once she assumes her domestic lioness stance to go all Pam Grier on Larter, “Obsessed” rockets to another planet, devolving into an absurd action film with both actresses eager to follow atrocious fight choreography, punctuated by composer James Dooley’s repetitive two-cent Casio stings, leaving me wondering when the Leprechaun was going to pop up and devour Lisa and Sharon. He never arrives, but a cameo by a horror icon is a more artistically sound idea than anything the conclusion “Obsessed” comes up with.


Co-produced by the Knowles Empire and Magic Johnson, “Obsessed” is minor league ball compared to the other wonderfully lurid highlights of the subgenre. It’s a film to laugh at instead of with, and that’s a missed opportunity Magic Johnson should be ashamed of. I don’t know why I’m singling out Magic Johnson, but logical motives aren’t a priority for this loathsome movie, so it won’t be a priority for me.

 

wow.

 

One thing about this flick that doesn't make any sense (I didn't actually see it), is why didn't Idris's character have sex with Ali's character in the movie??? If then, she was spurned, it would explain why she would be "obsessed" with extracting revenge on Idris. But, as I understand it, the two never had sex or any kind of intimacy at all. How can anyone be obsessed on that level without any type of intimacy between the two???

I know that Hollyweird has a big problem with BM/WW sex/love, but this shit just takes the movie down the path of unreal. Does anyone agree???

BTW, I might add that most of the producers of this flick are Black.

The Kid Rasta

 

this movie is an absolute trainwreck to say the least.

 

Yeah, the BM isn't even very attractive. :smt012

 

Ummm...yes. That has been part of the argument here against this film. I mean you knew going in that there was not going to be any sex between Elba and larter's characters. The filmmakers want to have it both ways:

1)they want to ensure that the black man doesn't falter by sleeping with the evil, white temptress because that would offend black women everywhere and shatter their fragile confidence apparently

2)they want to browbeat the black dude anyhow just for putting himself in a position to be entangled with the evil white woman in the first place.


In the trailer doesn't Beyonce's character criticize him for hiring a woman to be his secretary? Doesn't she scode him about this like he is some child? He's a goddamn grown man who is successful and yet his overbearing wife is telling him what to do at work. For those who saw this film correct me if I'm wrong. So what did his wife want him to do? Hire a guy to be his secretary?

So if I'm to get this right Elba's character is successful but castrated. He gets all the grief (or more) than Michael Douglass got in Fatal Attraction even though he never got to sleep with the secretary (hell, if the guy was going to go through hell at least allow him to have fuck the temptress a couple of times). And in the end its his wife who takes control and takes out the secretary instead of him. Uh-huh. This movie is nothing more than a black woman's fantasy. Confirm their suspicions about those whoring white women and their somewhat weak black husbands.....but don't show any white woman-black man love making on the screen! And in the end, the badass, beautiful "sistah" will put things right and beat the hell out of that skinny white bitch.

Jesus when I first heard about the film and learned they had cast Beyonce I had a feeling the film would go down this road. I mean it was obvious Beyonce was not going to play some plain, meek housewife. The black lady was going to have to be just as sexy (if not more) than the white lady and she would have to kick her ass too. And some of you have been waiting to see this film for nearly a year? Come on, folks.

If this was reverse and it was a black woman playing some one note villainous whore who tries to go after a happily married white man (who refused all of her advances) and in the edn her crazy butt is beaten up by the white wife, black America would be protesting the in front of the studio that released that garbage.

By the way Elba is talented but he must stop accepting all of these stupid parts. He should look to countryman Chiwetel Ejiofor as a model when it comes to picking roles.

 

Got dragged to the flick and checked it out.
Ali Larter is convincing as an emotionally unstable psychotic bitch.
Beyonce-ugh, her acting is geting better but still needs a lot of work.
Idris Elba- isn't he suppose to be the up and coming solid actor? why is he associating himself with this project?
In my view, the movie does not promote IR and the story line is a bit far-fetched. It reminded me of The Crush starring Alicia Silverstone.

 

:shock:

 

:smt118

 

IE, "The Family That Preys"? Except that they DID have a sexual affair...

 

Here is your typical Black Woman's review of the movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_uMUnkTtys

 

I just might check it out.

 

Let face it peeps, if this were the real world instead of Hollyweird's imagination...the bruh would have smashed the hott blonde without a doubt. Prolly would have smashed on multiple occasions.

I agree about this being a Black woman's fantasy flick (most of the moviegoers were BW). I agree that Idris's character was emasculated to nth degree. The hero turned out to be: Beyonce. I guess this explains why Beyone and her pops are producers on this movie. But, most of the producers (the director & writer are white) of thid movie are Black.

The Kid Rasta

 

I'll Tell You One Damned Thing...

you can best believe that if the situation was reversed racially, the white male star would get that black ass for sure ala MONSTER'S BALL, SOMETHING NEW & the upcoming beginning of STAR TREK with the young Kirk & the young Uhura to just name a few!:smt099

 

I saw this movie last night.

It was fairly intense. Had good build-up. The ending was your typical hollywood ending, though....

I enjoyed it though....very entertaining! And Ali Larter was perfect in the role, I thought.

 

There was a scene in the movie where the housewife says, "Get out of my house!!!" Hmmm, her husband is an account executive and makes all the money and yet she want him out of HER house!!!

Funny.

 

Sounds like a typical BW to me.

The Kid Rasta

 

LOL. I caught that, too.

But yet, it's not about who makes more money, since they're married. She should have said, "Get out the house"....that would have been a better line.

 

Well, she does live there so...

It doesn't seem like a stretch to say something like that.