I was just checking and it's been well over a month since I've reviewed a remake. That has to be some kind of recent record. I don't know if I'm happy (because I'm tired of remakes) or sad (because I love going off on them) about this. When Obsessed hit my doorstep, I remembered seeing the trailer for it and I thought that it was time for another trip to remake-ville. But, judging by the credits, this isn't an official remake. So, what is it?

Obsessed introduces us to Derek (Idris Elba) and Sharon (Beyonce Knowles), a married couple who have just moved into a new house with their infant son. Derek works at an investment firm and has a high-profile position. In fact, Sharon was once his secretary. When arriving at work one day, Derek meets Lisa (Ali Larter), a temp who is filling in for the day. They have a friendly conversation in the elevator and then Derek is on his way. The next day, Derek finds that his receptionist has called in sick, and Lisa is taking his place. Derek doesn't think much of this until Lisa starts flirting with him. Later, Derek finds Lisa in the break room crying. She states that her boyfriend has recently dumped her and Derek comforts her. At the company Christmas party, Lisa makes a pass at Derek and he rejects her. Following this, Lisa goes to work elsewhere and Derek assumes that the whole thing is over. Wrong! Lisa begins stalking him, acting as if they are a couple. How can Derek stop this troubled woman?

When I first saw Obsessed, it was the 1993 film The Temp. You mean to tell me that Obsessed isn't a remake of the movie where Lara Flynn Boyle takes a temp job as Timothy Hutton's receptionist, later revealing herself to be a homicidal stalker? OK, then is it a re-imagining of Fatal Attraction, as it certainly shares a lot of traits with that movie? So we're supposed to believe that Obsessed is an original movie? It must be, because that's what Beyonce says in the making-of featurette.

Obsessed is aimed at a very narrow audience, and that audience is Beyone fans. They will be disappointed for the first half of the movie, as she isn't in it very much. But, at the halfway point, the movie becomes incredibly ludicrous and it turns into the Beyonce show. For starters, only someone who loves Beyonce will be able to tolerate the "Get out of my house!" scene. This is the moment where Sharon, the unemployed gold-digger tells her husband to leave the premises, despite the fact that she have no evidence that he's had an affair with Lisa. If that doesn't satisfy your craving, then wait until you see the last 10 minutes of the movie, which become the "Beyonce is a street fighter" portion of the film. Hmm...now that I think of it, the movie takes some ideas from War of the Roses here. The big loser here (besides us) is Derek, the man who is stalked by a psycho and thrown out by his wife. Are we supposed to like any of the characters?

This movie wants to join a long line of cautionary tales which concern innocent flirting and obsessive women. The problem is that this film never makes any sense and it constantly insults the audience's intelligence. I'm now Obsessed with warning people about this movie.

Obsessed easily gets into cars and houses on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look very good and the image is never overly dark or bright. The level of detail is notably good and the depth adds to the experience. The Disc features a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are good and nicely detailed. The surround sound effects are somewhat scant for most of the film, but they really impress during the action-packed finale. These same scenes also display some well-placed subwoofer action. The in-film music sounds especially good.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has also brought Obsessed to DVD. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is sharp and clear, showing only a slight amount of grain. The colors look good, but the picture is a tad dark. When compared to the Blu-ray Disc, the DVD transfer isn't as sharp and it shows some slight blurring and ghosting in some shots. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. While this track isn't as clear as the audio on the Blu-ray Disc, it's perfectly acceptable as it provides nice stereo and subwoofer effects. Again, the music has real presence.

The extras on the DVD are the same as those found on the Blu-ray Disc.

Review Copyright 2009 by Mike Long