Obsessed

Sophia Money-Coutts

• Last Updated: October 26. 2009 8:56PM UAE / October 26. 2009 4:56PM GMT

• Rating:

Director: Steve Shill

Starring: Idris Elba, Beyoncé Knowles, Ali Larter

The nutty, obsessive woman storyline is not a new one. How many women have been called bunny-boilers since Glenn Close went slightly overboard in Fatal Attraction? Here, we have Knowles playing Sharon, a comely housewife married to Derek (Elba). Outwardly, life is good for the couple. They are a two-car family, with a shiny new house and young son, Kyle. Derek is an asset manager back in the pre-recession days when this was still considered an acceptable way to earn a living. They whisper “I love you” to each other constantly (they haven’t been married long). Enter Lisa (Larter), a willowy, blonde temp new to Derek’s office. She is instantly recognisable as trouble, in part because every line that drops from her lips sounds like innuendo: “Jo wants to know when you’re done with the Gan portfolio,” she says huskily at one point as if it’s a chat-up line. Derek appears not to notice, and consequently a Christmas party mishap unhappily paves the way for creepy, psychotic behaviour from Lisa. The film was roundly laughed at when it appeared in cinemas, which seems a mite unfair. Yes it’s a camped-up, predictable thriller, but the acting is strong. Surprisingly enough, this applies mostly to Knowles, who shines throughout. Look out for one fight scene in particular, where she breaks out a head butt that would take down your average, lardy WWF wrestler. Well, they don’t call her Sasha Fierce for nothing.