Blu-Ray Review: Predictable Thriller ‘Obsessed’ Should Be Better

CHICAGO – Steve Shill’s “Obsessed,” now on Blu-Ray and DVD, nearly works as a guilty pleasure thriller with some talented stars, but it’s so shockingly predictable and by-the-numbers that what starts promising quickly gets generic and dull. By the time the film gets to its explosive climax, most viewers will be too bored to care and a sub-par Blu-Ray release doesn’t help the overall package.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

“The Wire“‘s Idris Elba does good work as Derek Charles, a successful financial advisor who gets the worst temp hire in the world when Lisa (Ali Larter) joins the company. Lisa immediately becomes sexually obsessed with Derek, trying to molest him at the Christmas holiday party, sending him dirty pictures, and even tracking him down on a work retreat. Beyonce Knowles plays Derek’s loving wife Sharon, a character who everyone who has ever seen a movie before knows is going to kick some temp ass by the time the credits roll.

Obsessed was released on Blu-Ray on August 4th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony

And that’s the problem with “Obsessed”. The script by David Loughery throws absolutely no curve balls at the audience, playing it about as by-the-numbers as conceivably possible. Larter’s Lisa is clearly missing a few cards from her deck, Elba’s Derek is clearly not going to screw up his perfect life by fooling around with her, and Knowles’ Sharon is clearly going to be involved in a cat fight in the last reel.

Obsessed was released on Blu-Ray on August 4th, 2009. Photo credit: Sony

“Obsessed” could have been written by a computer and, ultimately, its lack of spontaneity drains the potential to be actually thrilling. There’s nothing tragically wrong with “Obsessed” - none of the performances are bad and the dialogue is above-average for the genre - but that doesn’t mean it does anything right either.

Even less praise could be directed at a Blu-Ray release that feels like an afterthought. The video transfer, the best thing about the release, is presented in 1080P High Definition with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The video is crystal clear but the audio track, in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 is merely so-so with some dialogue mixed lower than it should be in comparison to the score and sound effects.

Special features? There aren’t many. All fans will find are a digital copy of the film and a few brief behind-the-scenes featurettes. In fact, the only featurette even advertised on the back is “Girl Fight! An Inside Look at the Climactic Fight Sequence Between Beyonce Knowles and Ali Larter”. How thrilling can a movie be when the back of the Blu-Ray release gives away the climax? See “Obsessed” and find out for yourself.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com