On April 24, Obsessed opens in theaters starring Beyoncé Knowles. The film is about a happily married couple and a third wheel stalker, played by Heroes star Ali Larter, who wants to wrap her claws around Beyoncé’s man.
Sound familiar. It should. Because anyone who has seen the trailer for “Obsessed” has called it one thing: a “Fatal Attraction” knock-off. What’s the matter with Holly-whore? You can’t just go out and recreate “Fatal Attraction” and not have audiences see “Fatal Attaction.” Yes, the original “Fatal Attraction” came out over two decades ago, but they boiled a pet bunny on camera. You can’t top or forget that.
“Obsessed” will benefit from the stunt casting (using celebrity names to boost ticket sales) of Beyoncé with Ali. My interest was peaked when I saw Ali Lartner seductively lying in bed waiting for Beyoncé’s husband to come home - who if I must say is the luckiest man in the world. Who wouldn’t want to have to face the difficult decision of Ali Larter vs. Beyoncé Knowles. Heck, I’d do the role for free. Twice. But, back to the matter at hand, stunt casting rarely makes for good cinema, especially when these actors aren’t on the level of Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie.
Larter was the character on “Heroes” that everyone wanted to see disappear after season 1. It was through no fault of her own. The writers had just scripted a poor role for her to play. Finally, with the second half of season 3, fans are starting to embrace Larter’s new character and just cling to her as a cast favorite.
Unfortunately, for Beyoncé, this film will hardly be the ticket she “needs” (well she’s Beyoncé - she doesn’t really need it) to become recognized as a legitimate actor in the world of film. Let me be frank. “Dreamgirls” aside, the majority of movies featuring Beyoncé have been tolerable at best. She is cast as the stunt star in modern-day remakes, poor spoofs, and lackluster sequels. Honestly, Beyoncé didn’t even deliver a memorable performance in “Dreamgirls.” She played her role - nothing more. The stand out performances came from Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and of course Jennifer Hudson.
Beyoncé is an amazing singer, of that there is no contest. But, until she is able to find a leading role in a film with an “original plot” she will forever be labeled as landing that role from stunt casting. Larter is an actor first and deep-down yearns to play more roles. Being stuck in the “Heroes” world has a shelf-life. And, inevitably it will go off the air. Larter will want to convince the world of her full potential so that when Heroes is a memory, her career won’t be one too.
“Obsessed” will most likely be an over-produced feature that we will not obsess over as the film quickly fades from our memories. Much like the rest of Beyoncé’s films.
Who the heck are you to thrust your judgement on people like this? To compare Obsessed to Fatal Attraction is as simple as saying 1 plus one = Two. Point is, it doesn’t take a genius to make that connection, so I’m thinking, is this person stupid to think anyone who’s seen the former wouldn’t make the connection, or that if they hadn’t seen the former, its irrelevant to their experience of the latter? It just seems you are wanting to air your opinions/taste on Beyonce, Ali and Idris, yet lack any credential distinguishing your thoughts from any other person in the universe = you are no expert at all on anything, just a person who is using the web to express their otherwise alone thoughts. Yet you think you should have an impact. Get real for a moment and step back from your jealousy of people, your desire for an Idris sandwich, and rehashing other net based opinions that have zero relevance as news, even if it’s just “buzz.”