One hour photo

One of the serious roles of Robin Williams, and I dare say I prefer him this way. He was really good here, it is a pity he had the same role over and over again because that role, for the world, was his identity, who he was. Maybe he was, in part, sure, but not 'just' that. I've often felt such sadness behind his eyes, but I've never heard anyone else saying this so maybe I was wrong.
Anyway, this is a peculiar story. The movie starts with him already in the interrogation room, and he starts talking to explain his actions. Sy Parrish (Williams) is a lonely man who develops photos for a living, and they have really become his life, he's proud of their quality. He has been working there for eleven years, and at least for nine years, maybe even the whole eleven, the Yorkin family has been his customers. He has seen this couple through all the important events, he has seen their son from birth to his recent ninth birthday. He has kept a copy of their photos for himself, he loves to look at them as if they were his family, he loves them as a 'perfect family'. He tries to talk to them any time he gets a chance.
He tells Will (Michael Vartan) how lucky he is; he goes to watch Jack's (Dylan Smith) soccer training. This is his life, and he loves his job because it keeps him in touch with the Yorkin family but also because he has a passion for photos: "if these pictures have anything important to say to future generations it's this: I was here. I existed. I was young, I was happy, and someone cared enough about me in this world to take my picture" which makes selfies a mere scream for attention, a "I'm here, look at me, look at me" yelled at the world, but everybody knows that.
Sy fantasizes to be a part of this family, but one day his existence is shattered when his boss Bill (Gary Cole) fires him. Bill says there's been a big number of photos not accounted for (of course, with all the pictures he made for himself, after years and years he finally noted..) and also that he has been causing problems, and taking too long lunch breaks... so he's fired, it's already done, nothing to talk about anymore. Wow, wasn't that too drastic? Maybe a chance to repay the pictures, a last warning... no, in a moment he's fired, and his face when he hears this!! What a scene.
For him this is huge, a tragedy, he cries alone in 'his' lab. This is the shock, the trigger, they talk about in Criminal Minds.. the event that changes everything, now he fears he'll never see the Yorkins again. Thinking over and over about them, he remembers where he saw a certain customer : Marya Burson (Erin Daniels): in a class picture behind Will and Nina (Connie Nielsen). He goes at night to have a good look at her pictures, which were probably made by Yoshi, who works-worked with him. He finds the unexpected: Will and her kissing, they have an affair! Sy puts those pictures together with Nina's other photos, and follows her home to see the reaction after she sees them. She stops the car because of the shock, looks at them, but she finally gets home and Sy watches the family have their dinner together as if nothing had happened, Nina doesn't talk about it with Will!
"What the hell is wrong with these people?" asks himself Sy, and decides to do something.
First, he takes to his old lab some pictures to develop, and Yoshi shows them to Bill: maybe Sy caught Bill doing something wrong? I thought, but no, it's worse, it's a whole bunch of pictures of Bill's little daughter playing in her garden. Bill is scared now, and calls the police. I don't understand this thing, Sy would never hurt the little girl, why did he take the pictures? Anyway, he calls the police.
Detectives James (Eriq La Salle) and Paul (Clark Gregg) comes to investigate, and take the thing seriously.. They break into Sy's apartment to find it empty, but there is still the wall of pictures of the Yorkins, and in each and every one of them Will's face has been scratched. They get worried and go talk to Nina, but she can't reach him at his office because Will is in a hotel room with Maria. Maybe Will's colleague finally told her, or maybe the police found them because now they have the other woman's name and the room is in her name, anyway they know where to go now. Sy is there too, he breaks into their room with a big knife, scaring them to death, and forces them to pose, naked as they are, for some pictures that Nina will not be able to ignore, this time, then he leaves. The police find them shocked but unharmed, and catches him who tries to explain "all I did was take pictures". They take Will home, and then we are shown the end of the interrogation, where Sy talks about good loving fathers, and how they should not force their kids to do terrible things... and voilà, the childhood drama is revealed. Honestly, I don't think this was necessary, not in 'this' movie, not with Sy. The character didn't need it. I see the reason for it, of course, but I think Sy's character already had all the reasons he needed, this was too much. All in all, he was a good character, he didn't hurt anybody (well, maybe a door in Maria's face to get their serious attention, but that's all), he simply could not stand that Will, a man who had everything Sy did not have, would betray their trust and hurt them like that (with the disgusting old excuse that he's never present because he has to work all the time to give her all the money she spends, but 1:are we sure she could not live with less money? I think she could, and 2:he doesn't seem to have to be working all that hard, spending the afternoon in bed with his lover, what about giving that time to his son who never sees him??
At the end of the interrogation, detective James leaves him alone to watch his precious pictures, and although I understand the meaning of them, (they were pictures of little unimportant things, such as could be a pen, a lamp, a switch, an angle, or whatever little thing people never take pictures of), someone should explain to me how the police got hold of them, and what happened to the pictures he took of Will and his lover..