Obsessed

Obsessed is a campy, trashy, and totally implausible stalker-thriller whose preposterous plot and characters generate more laughter and guffaws than any sort of suspense or thrill. Viewers will either enjoy that ride like a delicious, empty calorie Twinkie or demand their money back.

Idris Elba and singer-actress Beyoncé Knowles are Gary and Sharon, the perfect couple plus baby who just moved in to their equally perfect new home. That is until a temp at Gary’s office named Lisa (Ali Larter) makes the moves on him and she just can’t seem to take "no" for an answer. This B-movie version of Fatal Attraction (and a host of other copycats) culminates in a messy catfight between Knowles and Larter, surely earning them a nomination for an MTV Movie Award next year in the Best Fight category.

The characters are so one-dimensional they might as well be stick figure drawings. For being a successful business man high up on the food chain, Gary somehow manages to conveniently lunch solo at the office instead taking clients out for a meal, never goes to human resources to file a complaint, and doesn’t ever firmly rebuff’s Lisa’s come-ons until it’s too late. Apparently it doesn’t cross this intelligent man's mind to tell her early on that she’s being “inappropriate,” “unprofessional,” or “crossing the line.” Of course Lisa’s one-day temp job turns into a two-week stay that enables her to attend the office Christmas party at a firm that doesn’t even let its own employees bring their spouses.

Beyoncé, meanwhile, spends the first half of the film pretty much being a stay at home who wears high heels and is only seen dutifully holding the baby or talking on the telephone in various rooms of her overly spacious, non-child proof home. Her character doesn’t come alive until the last act when her inner Sascha Fierce is released to take on Larter’s character in knock-down-drag-out brawl in which the sweet Sharon uses the word “bitch” in almost every sentence.

Larter is anointed the psycho from the get-go. We never learn anything about her personal life, such as why she’s temping and why, in particular, she sets her sights on Gary instead of someone else. There’s no motivation other than she’s just crazy as all hell.

Jerry O’Connell as Gary’s office best friend Ben is the most useless character, serving only to randomly pass through scenes to slap Gary on his back in that familiar macho way before uttering such tacky lines as, “That is one smoking hot piece of ass!” and “Who wants to see some hot, oily breasts?”

On a positive note, the issue of race is never once mentioned here, which is probably the only refreshing and original thing about Obsessed.

—Zorianna Kit
04.27.09

Enticement leads to terror when a sexy office temp forms a dangerous fixation on a successful and happily married asset manager. Derek Charles (Idris Elba) is good at his job; so good that he's recently earned a big promotion. He's worked hard to get to the top, and when his workday is finished Derek has the luxury of returning home to his beautiful wife, Sharon (Beyoncé Knowles), and their healthy newborn child. But Derek's perfect life begins to crumble when sexy new temp worker Lisa (Ali Larter) goes to work at the office and begins stalking Derek's every move. When Lisa's obsession turns dangerous, Derek and Sharon resort to desperate measures in protecting themselves and their child from her deadly wrath. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi