Obsessed

2009 seems to be a year of major deja vu. Two weeks ago, we saw 17 Again starring Zac Efron in a retread of the Big, 13 Going on 30, 18 Again, body-transfer comedy. This weekend, audiences got a chance to see a whole new watered-down Fatal Attraction in the form of Obsessed.

Meet Derek (played by Idris Elba), a successful asset manager who is blissfully happy in his career and his marriage to Sharon (played by Beyonce Knowles). Everything is peachy for this power couple until Lisa, the hot new temp-secretary arrives in the form of Ali Larter. Her power of persuasion does little to give Derek a moment’s pause to sway from his perfect marriage.

Lisa isn’t about to be ignored…for some reason (unknown to both the audience and the character), Lisa begins to go psychotic on Derek after a few flirty drinks at the office Christmas party. Despite trying to keep things under wraps — particularly with his wife — Derek quickly finds his life crashing down around him…the problem is — not fast enough. Since the premise of the movie is so blatantly obvious, you’re just waiting for things to go into overdrive when it seems everything is stuck in first gear. A big part of the problem: a cliché-laden script which includes a token gay stereotype secretary, the best friend/co-worker tool-with-women played by Jerry O’Connell, as well as a dumb detective played by Christine Lahti (as if she traded in her scrubs from Chicago Hope for a badge).

Shot and played like a TV movie, nothing about Obsessed is remotely inspired or unique. For her part, Beyonce does what she can with what she’s given, but the problem is there’s not much to work with. The only fun begins fifteen minutes until the movie is over, when her character finally decides to go ghetto on this crazy bitch who’s turning their lives upside down.

At one point in the film, Lisa surprises Derek at an office retreat. When he rebuffs her, she slips him a mickey. But when the drug takes effect and we find him stumbling down the hotel hallway, everything is out of focus — not just Derek’s point of view. It’s almost as if we, the audience, have been drugged along with him. If tweaked a little more to the left, Obsessed could have easily played as a comedy simply by mining all the clichés for full effect.

Regardless of the fact, Obsessed isn’t trying to be anything more than what it is — a popcorn thriller. The problem is, there’s just not enough kernels in the bag.