Movie Review: “Snapshot” Shows Life Behind The Paparazzi

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words but former paparazzi Thomas Grady’s most recent photo, a scandalous shot of the First Lady, is certainly worth more, a lot more.

We are all very familiar with the paparazzi. They are, for want of a better explanation, freelance photographers who take candid pictures of celebrities for publication and monetary gain. Granted, while they certainly give legitimate photographers a bad name, at the same time, the rich and famous rely on them because as much as they might hate to admit it, once the cameras stop clicking, they’re no longer of interest. “Snapshot” goes behind the veil of the Hollywood elite and political dignitaries to tell the story of Thomas Grady (Zach McGowan), an ex-paparazzi who is trying to start up his own freelance photography business. With a not-so distinguished career behind him, he is trying to move on with his life and put his immoral past away.

He lives with his girlfriend Arianna (Angela Gots) and has taken her younger cousin Casey (Nina Transfeld), a teenager who thinks she knows it all, under his wing as his assistant, trying to teach her how to be a photographer. He doesn’t get on too well with his father Paul (Robert Loggia), a former firefighter whose father and grandfather were also firefighters. Suffice to say, because Thomas picked up a camera instead of a fire hose, tensions between them have remained ever since. While out and about town one day, he and Casey come across a small congregation of photographers outside the courthouse and after inquiring as to why they are there, he is told that the first lady is visiting in a surprise visit.

He decides to wait around and as she is leaving, she trips on the courthouse steps and Thomas, who just happens to be at the bottom of the stairway, is in the perfect position to get some very revealing pictures of her. However, he doesn’t realize until he gets home, just how explicit the photos are and it’s only a matter of time before word leaks out about them and Thomas has every tabloid magazine in the country offering him big money. But it also attracts the attention of the White House and the Secret Service and Thomas acknowledges that he must make a decision that will not only affect him, his family and his friends but also any semblance of a reputation he hopes to attain. “Snapshot” takes a scenario that happens in Hollywood every day but adds a conscience.

When Princess Diana was killed in Paris in 1997 as a result of photographers chasing her car so they could photograph her, the world turned against the paparazzi as a result and ever since, celebrities hold them in such contempt, if they were to pass one on fire on the side of the road, they would undoubtedly help fan the flames. “Snapshot” sets out to show that while there are many heartless and ruthless shutterbugs in the world, it would be very unfair and presumptuous of us to assume that they are all unsympathetic and dispassionate. Zach McGowan gives a very restrained performance as a man with a past he’d much rather forget while Angela Gots and movie veteran Robert Loggia shine in their respective roles.

While much of the drama contained herein is conventional and orthodox, the actual story, an ex-paparazzi trying to go legit, is somewhat refreshing, giving us a glimpse into the goings on behind the curtain of the people who photograph the stars and who, for the most part, have no compunction about what they do. Granted, while Thomas was obviously able to work in this system for quite a long time, making good money in the process, in his new established career, he has literally taken on the ‘starving artist’ moniker, one that many people adopt before they make it big in their chosen profession and it just goes to show that not every member of the paparazzi, is without principles.

Available on DVD May 19th

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