Obsessed‘s tagline should be “Idris Elba is surrounded by
frickin’ idiots!” because the film itself is an example of how a flimsy
plot can be sustained by the stupidity of the characters.
Lisa (Ali Larter) materializes in Derek’s (Elba) office—a
financial firm, as written by someone who knows nothing about financial
firms—and sexually harasses him in increasingly violating ways with
no rhyme or reason. At least Alex Forrest claimed she was “36 and it
may be my last chance to have a baby!” Even if the over-the-top stalker
behaviour of both characters is hard to swallow, Obsessed makes
Fatal Attraction look like the high watermark for depth of
characterization.
Despite the obvious comparison to Fatal Attraction,
Obsessed is surprisingly vanilla. No one uses or carries out the
F-word. At one point, the final confrontation between Lisa and Derek’s
wife (Beyoncé Knowles) solicited spontaneous applause and cheers
from the Park Lane crowd. However, it wasn’t not enough to redeem the
rest of the film.
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2009.
