The resulting gestures all lend themselves toward the film’s overall camp: When Beyoncé’s eyebrows move in tandem with the wig, her scenes become a kind of choreography. Sharon does not have time to play games.įor a woman whose musical career has carried millions of fans through some of their most intense emotions, Beyoncé the actress frequently struggles to deliver lines with the kind of understated facial expressions or verbal nuances that convey subtle shifts. (I mean, really, how much disbelief can we possibly be expected to suspend here?) The night of a possible reconciliation dinner with Derek, Sharon changes her wig for the first time. This wig is an amusing distraction, a wet ’n’ wavy number that Beyoncé noticeably never covers with a scarf when she’s in bed. The one she wears for most of the film frames her face delicately - but almost never moves. A departure from her usual honey blond, this wig was a rich auburn color.
#OBSESSED LIFETIME MOVIE MOVIE#
Like Nicole Kidman’s wig on Big Little Lies, Beyoncé’s follicular accessory in Obsessed is a character of its own, perhaps 2009’s greatest addition to the Pantheon of Notable Movie Wigs (sorry, Hermione). Just look at them! Have you ever seen a couple more eligible for the February cover of Martha Stewart Living (assuming Snoop Dogg hadn’t already filled the role of Martha’s most famous black friend)? (Screen Gems) No shade to Jay-Z, but can you imagine what that alternate universe would look like? Obsessed’s casting director did, and we were blessed with 108 minutes of a world in which the world’s most talented Houstonian was the wife of London’s finest export since … well, ever. Obsessed may not - OK, will not - win Beyoncé or Elba any lifetime achievement awards, but the two are genuinely fun to watch as a couple. You could even make the case that Obsessed is secretly an inspirational movie disguised as a romantic thriller: If Idris Elba and Beyoncé - paragons of Good - are capable of being this Bad, doesn’t that mean maybe the rest of us are capable of achieving at least … mediocrity? But most importantly, we get to watch Beyoncé not just succeed a little less than usual, but be actively bad. It features post- Wire Idris Elba somehow unable to outwit a relatively uncomplicated antagonist.
Obsessed is a hallmark of the Good Bad Movie genre: It’s outrageous if you take it seriously, and unimaginably entertaining to watch if you don’t.
It lays there like undigested latkes.” Travers wasn’t wrong the film develops at a languid pace, and every step is forecast for viewers with either musical cues, lengthy shots of key objects, or painfully obvious writing.īut eight years later, the film is almost endearing in its commitment to its own absurdity. The film garnered a 19 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers, one of many critics who panned it, wrote perhaps the most vivid description of its lack of direction: “Movie? Obsessed doesn’t move at all. The dialogue veers often into caricature (especially in the case of Patrick, Derek’s gay assistant) few characters are complex and the acting is almost painful to watch at times. Her advances jeopardize Derek’s career and his marriage - and both Derek and Sharon have to fight for what they’ve built. Now, a new temp (Ali Larter) develops an increasingly eerie infatuation with Derek as her time at the company goes on. Elba’s character, Derek, is a successful asset manager who met his wife, Sharon (Beyoncé), years earlier when she came to work as a temp at his company. Obsessed, the 2009 Steve Shill–directed romantic thriller, stars Beyoncé alongside leading man Idris Elba in a Fatal Attraction–esque story. While her less-than-stellar acting in films like The Fighting Temptations, Dreamgirls, and Cadillac Records have all been bolstered by her musical capacity, one film in Beyoncé’s oeuvre stands in stark contrast to the other relatively passable efforts.
#OBSESSED LIFETIME MOVIE HOW TO#
But even when her theatrics fail to land, Beyoncé knows how to make a film float on the wind of her voice. The bronze in Beyoncé’s otherwise platinum résumé is commonly, if also quietly, acknowledged even by most members of the BeyHive. īeyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is many things - singer, dancer, House of Deréon model, Popeyes aficionado, mother to Blue Ivy (and perhaps now also a set of Gemini twins) - but she is not, for all her talents, the world’s best actress. Please join us as we give the over-the-top action movies, low-budget romance thrillers, and peak ’80s cheese-fests the spotlights they deserve. All week, The Ringer will be celebrating Good Bad Movies, those films that are so terrible they’re endlessly amusing and - dare we say it? - actually good.