I remember back in 2001 sitting in a theater with a couple friends to watch a movie called "O", starring Mekhi Pfifer, Josh Hartnett, and the lovely Julia Stiles. I remember thinking that I liked the film, but couldn't figure out why. I own that movie, and in subsequent viewings have come to realize that it's actually a pretty standard film. The only thing that truly sets it apart are the underlying themes of race, particularly the taboo of a big strong black guy bangin' the cute, saintly white chick. Josh Hartnett was the embodiment of every white dude who says "What the hell...?" when he sees some hot blonde chick walkin' around with a guy who looks like Mark Henry.
Obsessd plays upon those same themes, although tossed into a fairly conventional Fatal Attractions scenario. Idris Elba(The Wire) plays Derek Charles, a VP at a prestiguous asset management firm. Derek is the typical office hotshot. He's a good dude, but he flirts and is the apple of all the ladies' eyes at work. But he's also happily married to Beyonce. Er, wait, her name's Sharon. She just acts exactly like Beyonce always acts. My bad. They have a kid, who's name escapes me so let's just call him Stringer, Jr. All seems fine in the world until Derek gets himself a new temp at the office, a sexy go-getter by the name of Lisa, played by Ali Larter. Her arrival amps the sexual tension level in the joint up to 11, as Derek has a bit of reputation for mackin' on the office talent. In fact, Sharon once worked in the office until Derek scooped her up and made an honest woman out of her. So Sharon knows Derek's rep first hand, and upon seeing Lisa in the office immediately knows there could be trouble.
Lisa for her part, is less than subtle about her intentions. She seems to show up everywhere Derek goes. Derek, who is either an insatiable flirt or the biggest idiot on the planet, is way too outgoing towards her. He consoles her when she's down, he indulges her when she compliments him. He becomes her office champion. Not that I blame him. Check it:
vs.
I know who I'm rooting for, and it's the chick sporting her own real hair.
Lisa's obsession with Derek eventually starts to affect his marriage. Lisa throws herself at Derek in a parking lot. She turns up at a work retreat and O.D.'s in his bed, usually a telltale sign that somebody's got some 'splainin' to do! Lisa, who by now has ceased any rational brain function, begins breaking into the happy family's home, an act which brings her into direct confrontation with the Mighty Beyonce in a catfight that could've only been better if someone had lathered them both up in oil and had them duke it out in a tub full of cream corn.
And really that's all this film was about. Clearly, the people who made this dreck didn't care about anything except getting us to that slugfest, because it's the only bit that feels remotely inspired. The build up here feels remarkably familiar. If you've seen Fatal Attraction, or even Disclosure then you know the routine. But there is a certain racial element thrown in that they are less than subtle about. Amongst the African-American community(of which I'm a loyal member since '77) there has always been a sortof inner hatred amongst black women in regards to white women stealing their men. To take it even further, the idea of white women raising a black man's child is especially egregious.
This film incorporate every one of the black woman's fears and smushes them into a big ball. Sharon represents those women's collective paranoia, instantly painting Lisa out as the troublemaker without provocation(the fact that she was right makes no diff). This movie is made for those women with a certain outlook on black male/white woman relationships, and that outlook is decidedly negative. Sharon represents all that is good, and pure about black women. She's painted as being utterly flawless, both in appearance and in personality. In fact I'm hard pressed to think of a more made up, prettied up mother taking care of her kid in the morning. My mom never woke up in the morning lookin' like she just stepped out of a Dark 'n Lovely commercial. Lisa, on the other hand, is a shameless skank tarting around the office throwing herself at Derek with impunity. She has no redeeming qualities, no room for remorse. She's just there to be an object of the audience's scorn. It makes the whole situation less than interesting. You could even rangle some sympathy for Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. She had atleast been done wrong and was rightly angry. Here, Lisa is just evil pure and simple. Derek? Derek is just a moron. He kinda goes with the flow of what's happening around him. He's the least interesting factor in this entire equation. Although, I must admit that being a black guy who's madly in love with Ali Larter and despises the weeds that grow beneath Beyonce's feet as she walks allowed me to identify with Derek just a little. Ofcourse it was just me projecting what I would've done in the same situation and hoping Derek would do the same, which is kick Sharon to the curb and shack up with the hot crazy chick. Alas, I was disappointed.
I thought, due to her actually doing a good job as Etta James in Cadillac Records, that Beyonce had turned a corner as an actress, but I see I was sadly mistaken. She's incapable of expressing any emotion other than extreme happiness or extreme anger, and can't stop herself from looking like she's posing when the focus isn't on her character. It's like she's modeling for the cover of Jet magazine or somethin'. Idris Elba, yeah I know the ladies love him and he's really not all that bad here given the weak material he has to work with. To be fair, Beyonce gives him nothing to work with, either. Not even my darling Ms. Larter can be spared, although again I blame the script. Lisa goes too rapidly from office flirt to murderous vixen with no middle ground whatsoever. Larter plays the role well enough, her smile both terrifying and strangely inviting.
Obsessed would've been better served with a better script, which doesn't do enough to make us care for anybody involved this little triangle. My hope was that maybe it would atleast rise to the level of "guilty pleasure", and maybe to some degree it reaches that point. I can atleast say that it was fun to watch, even if it was for all the wrong reasons. Reasons like this...
5/10
