Hitchcock

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston, Jessica Biel, James D'Arcy, Toni Collette
Directed by: Sacha Gervasi
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) decides his next film will be the novel, "Psycho". Unfortunately, he faces major obstacles to bring his vision to life.

Review:

Tim: I'm a really big Alfred Hitchcock fan, so I was really looking forward to this film. Hitchcock is such a fascinating person, and Psycho is perhaps his most famous film. I was really looking forward to this behind-the-scenes look. Even better, Hitchcock had a tremendous cast. This movie had a great deal of positives going for it.

I do want to talk about a trend in biopics. For a while, Hollywood focused on the biopic that told the whole story of someone's life- from birth to death. It felt like we got a lot of those films in a short amount of time, and people started to get sick of those kinds of movies. The new trend is to pick one event or section of a person's life, and just tell that one story (which is emblematic of their life as a whole). I actually kind of miss the old biopic format a little, and hope we get one of those every now and then.

I thought the look at the making of Psycho was interesting. There were definitely things of which I was completely unaware- the major struggles Hitchcock faced in getting this movie made, including having to finance it himself, for example. There were also things I knew about (the issues with the censors), but I loved seeing this unfold on screen. The whole behind-the-scenes look at the movie was interesting, but not nearly as fascinating as I'd hoped. I wanted to spend more time on the movie aspect.

What takes away from the screen time of the movie is the weird almost-affair between Hitchcock's wife, Alma, and a colleague. I have no idea why we spent so much time on this aspect of the story. It wasn't told especially well, and it just kept going on and on with little resolution until the end. It was a major flaw of the story.

I did love seeing Anthony Hopkins in this role. First off, he is an incredible actor, and he did a very good job as Hitchcock. I know he got some criticism for his performance, but I believed him as the famous director, and I thought he captured many of his mannerisms quite well. I also have to say that the makeup in this film was astounding. Hopkins looked nothing like himself, and looked so much like Hitchcock- the makeup was incredible. It's not surprising that it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup (the film's only nomination).

I normally really like Helen Mirren, but I felt like her role didn't give her enough opportunities to shine. She had a few terrific moments, but for the most part, her performance felt a bit flat. She worked well with Hopkins, but I quickly grew tired of her storyline. The script really under-served her.

I loved the casting of Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel as Janet Leigh and Vera Miles. I have to say that Johansson was actually quite excellent as Leigh. She looked like her, moved like her, and I felt like I was actually watching her on screen. She impressed me greatly. I thought Biel was fine as Vera Miles, but her acting was only average. Danny Huston was a nice addition, and was wonderfully slimy. I also thought James D'Arcy was incredibly believable as Anthony Perkins.

This movie had some obvious strengths- the depiction of how Psycho came to be, the performance of Hopkins as Hitchcock, and Johansson as Leigh. However, the film spent far too much time on Hitchcock's domestic issues. The movie as a whole was good, but it did not reach the heights I had hoped. Hitchcock mostly worked, and while the film was enjoyable, it had a few too many flaws as well. Overall, you could claim this movie was a success, but a minor one.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Psycho, My Week with Marilyn, The Queen