From “Fatal Attraction” to “The Temp” to “Disclosure,” the dangers of office-related affairs have been covered quite thoroughly with rather spotty success.

Now comes the latest entry in the genre, “Obsessed,” a rather tepid thriller that tries to add a new racial twist – but fails miserably.

Idris Elba stars as Derek, a successful investor who has just gotten a big promotion – moving into a large house with his wife, Sharon (Beyonce Knowles), and their young son.

But Derek’s seemingly perfect life starts to crumble when he befriends Lisa (Ali Larter) – an office temp who develops an unhealthy infatuation for her new boss.

Directed by Steve Shill, “Obsessed” skates over a lot of familiar territory – in a painfully slow-paced manner. It’s as if Shill is attempting to build tension for the obligatory clash in the finale, but he takes so long to get to the point even a fun catfight between Beyonce and Larter can’t save the movie.

Davi Loughery’s script is also quite disappointing. Loughery previously tackled interracial relations in “Lakeview Terrace” and it looks like he wants to go that way here – but the film never even scratches the surface in exploring the obvious issues in the potential relationships.

The script is also full of contrived situations that only hinder the obvious resolution (you know, something like getting the temp fired). And the addition of Christine Lahti as a cop adds to the already cloudy story.

But the biggest problem with “Obsessed” is the cast. Larter is probably the best of the three, but she is no Glenn Close (or Alicia Silverstone in “The Crush” for that matter). Elba is way too restrained for his character, delivering a performance so laid back you get the sense he was bored during filming.

Both are better than pop singer Beyonce, who gives the kind of performance that wins Razzies (the anti-Oscars). I don’t want to pick on her too much because she has shown promise with her work in “Dreamgirls,” but every time she spoke it felt like I was listening to fingernails on chalkboard. Her range is limited at best and as a friend of mine pointed out during our screening, she looks like she is reading from cue cards about 50 percent of the time.

It all adds up to a film that is nothing more than a cinematic trainwreck. Sure it surprised at the box office last weekend with nearly $30 million, but I guarantee you that with summer films about to flood the market “Obsession” will be quickly forgotten by the end of May.

DVD dandy of the week

This week’s dandy is “The Uninvited” (B-), a neat little thriller that clicks thanks to a good cast and a solid twist ending.

“The Uninvited” tells the story of Anna (Emily Browning), a teenage girl who returns home from a mental hospital after suffering a breakdown when her invalid mother dies in a fire.

Anna returns home to learn that her mother’s former nurse (Elizabeth Banks) is about to marry her father (David Strathaim) – and starts to suspect that the nurse may have had something to do with her mother’s accident.

Those suspicions are deepened when Anna starts to see ghostly visions of her mother and three young children who may be linked to the nurse’s past.

The scares are pretty standard in “The Uninvited” and the film does tread through some familiar waters.

It worked, however, because Browning is very believable and is aided by strong support from Strathaim and Banks, who shows she can do more than comedy in a creepy, but fun, performance.

“The Uninvited” also has one of the better “Sixth Sense”-like twist endings in recent memory, a clever twist that you probably won’t see coming – even though it’s all laid out in front of you.

“The Uninvited” is rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing images, thematic material, sexual content, language and teen drinking and is now available on DVD.

— Sportswriter/movie reviewer Micheal Compton, who himself is the focus of quite a bit of obsession, can be reached by e-mailing mcompton@bgdailynews.com.