Obsessed (2009)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

First off all, I want to say that I like movies with a similar plot, but "Obsessed" is not one of them.The acting is incredibly bad. Idris Elba is one of my favorite actors, so I blame the director here, although Ali Larter did a good job. She is very hot, so is Beyonce as well. The beginning of the movie was interesting, but after the first 30 minutes the movie bacame lame, with so many unnecessary scenes. Some of them were ridiculous, especially the action scenes in the end of the movie.And the biggest problem with "Obsessed" is the running time. I do not mind long movies, but this one could be done in 30 or 40 minutes max. The other hour+ was just a filler.

First of all "Obsessed" is a great flick, well acted, Directed and edited, and has an appropriate film score and even better lyrical soundtrack, this movie is better than "Fatal Attraction" (simply because the bunny boiler scene from that movie was too much and it ruined the film, as someone who loves animals i can't watch that movie and definitely would not call it entertaining because of that depiction).Now lets get into an in-depth analysis of the characters."Derek" is a businessman, his wife "Sharon" is a former-employee of his and is now a stay-at-home-wife/mother who is also an online college student, they have one child. Another character is "Lisa" a brand new temp who works for "Derek". "Lisa" becomes obsessed with "Derek" and begins to ruin his life.Okay so "Lisa" basically becomes "Derek's" personal assistant, it is not stated clearly but it could be possible that she slipped something in the other temps drinks so that she could temp for Derek, it is just too coincidental that they keep getting sick/getting the flu while she doesn't catch anything."Sharon" is a likable character and she acts childish at one point when she decides to get "Lisa"'s name wrong in their introduction as well as making the comment "I bet you are!" that's rude and the tit for tat getting the name wrong is pathetic, so the temp got your name wrong, so what?! Also another thing that is not clear is the no female temps allowed stuff, it is not made clear if "Derek" actually cheated and even if he did he seems to be mature now that he's married and settled down with a kid, it doesn't seem like he has extreme temptation problems with that, so why not just trust your husband?!The second part of "Lisa"'s manipulations is when she's crying over her "boyfriend" that just dumped her, people like "Lisa" will watch their victim discreetly, obviously "Derek" goes into that lunch/break room the same time everyday, "Lisa" clearly chose to get in that room a little early and start crying hence more conversation with "Derek".The character "Derek" is just plain DUMB! You get sexually assaulted and you don't report it to human resources the next day?? Just hoping things like that will go away won't make it go away! He mentions later on in the film that he thought he was handling the situation, please - doing nothing isn't handling the situation, when it comes to sexual harassment you can't go with the ignore it and it'll just go away, you have to take action and tell someone! telling the sex-obsessed weird friend/co-worker doesn't count. More things start happening and you STILL do not tell anyone?! The first person he should have told is his wife, he should have woke her up, asked her to join him downstairs, make some coffee and explain everything and then go into work the next day and complain! Also "Derek" does not seem to know what sexual harassment is, you were nearly raped and you don't mind continuing to work with this person?!The Detective may be one of those feminist types, she automatically believes "Lisa"'s BS story when there's no proof whatsoever (and the flowers are not solid proof, "Lisa" clearly sent herself those flowers, and that stupid Diary is hearsay) and it's only after "Lisa" kidnaps their kid and they're at the hospital where you can tell by the look on the Detective's face that she feels like an idiot for not believing "Derek" in the first place.That silly babysitter is the worst babysitter in the history of film, first she has her earphones in (how can you possibly hear the baby properly? and how can you hear the door bell??) she just allows the woman to waltz in and believes everything this complete stranger says without any confirmation.The end fight scene between the two women felt like it was there for men to drool over, it had that vibe like nobody's business, and "Sharon"'s one-liners...what is the deal with that?? There usually is not that much talking during a fight.One final thing, film critics and reviewers on IMDb state that there is no reason for "Lisa" to be obsessed with "Derek". Do research about the topic of romantic-obsession because a person can still become obsessed without an affair, a personality like "Lisa"'s will always obsess over someone who pays them a little attention, of course the victim will have to be the obsessed person's type, also loneliness is not the answer to obsessive behaviour, loads of people are lonely and they don't obsess over people, you have to have an obsessive personality to begin with.

Such an awful movie that it actually does not warrant my time to write a proper review. This whole debacle was just an excuse for Beyonce to try and prove she can act - she can't. You'll find yourself rooting for anyone but her in the movie. Terrible, terrible waste of time.Without giving away too much of the movie (not that there is much to give away) there is no plot, it is a poor imitation of many movies before it that have done this so well - successful husband married to pretty wife, gets tempted by seductress. Except in this horrid waste of time, there is nothing for anyone else to do other than fawn over Beyonce and how great she is and how no man would ever be tempted away from her because she is so great. At everything apparently (except acting!) She has a great voice and should stick to singing!

Obsessed (2009): Dir: Steve Shill / Cast: Idris Elba, Ali Larter, Beyonce Knowles, Jerry O'Connell, Scout Taylor-Compton: Formula dreck about the pursuits of the forbidden. Ali Larter plays a temp who pursues a married man before the obvious sets in. Predictable and over the top with the concluding cat fight we know will happen. And who is surprised when the bad attic flooring plays a factor? Idris Elba is the one performance that holds strong. He plays a guy caught up in a web of seduction that he attempts to prevent but all fails. Larter is stunning as the villainess but the role is too predictable and a bigger pain in the ass to viewers who are no doubt annoyed with the screenwriter's juvenile tactics for thrills. Even when Larter meets her dismiss it is met with laughter. Beyonce Knowles as Elba's wife is another predictable role. She will suspect foul play, kick her husband out, then realize the truth before opening up a can of whoop-ass on Larter. Jerry O'Connell is cardboard as a co-worker who no doubt wishes he had the same action with Larter that he had in Tomcats with a female dressed as a librarian. This film has been done many times and it doesn't improve with this crap. Directed by Steve Shill with fine location shots. It never addresses the idea of sexual harassment from a serious standpoint. Instead it becomes obsessed with being a laugh out loud geek show. Score: 3 ½ / 10