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Not long ago, I was praising Robin Williams' performance in Good Will Hunting. Watching it reminded me of one or two other films he's done that make me think maybe he's a better dramatic actor than a comedic one.

One of his more serious roles in the last decade came in One Hour Photo, which I recently decided to watch again. Williams plays a "crisp and clean on the outside, creepy stalker on the inside" employee of the photo finishing department in a Walmart-esque super store. The film follows his disturbing obsession with one particular family that's been developing film with him for years.

Williams is very unsettling in his restraint in this movie. Perhaps the audience is bringing "extracurricular" knowledge to the film, knowing how wild and unhinged he can be as a performer. Imagining that potential inside this buttoned-tight character heightens the tension enormously.

Michael Vartan, Connie Nielsen, Gary Cole, and Eriq La Salle round out the interesting cast. No one is doing flashy work here; they improve the film by being completely realistic and minimal in their acting.

The story is compact but compelling, mining every corner of the simple stalker premise for effective tension and suspense. Writer-director Mark Romanek delivers a film that makes you feel like your brain needs a shower afterward. About the only misstep is the ending. It's not "weak" exactly; it just doesn't measure up to the taut quality of the bulk of the movie.

I grade One Hour Photo an A-. If you like suspense, and want to see the normal (rather than the fantastical) made scary, this is one you should check out.