Predicted Rating: 4 Stars
Directed by: Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story of Anvil). Starring: Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs), Helen Mirren (The Queen), Scarlett Johansson (The Avengers) and Jessica Biel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre).
Hitchcock studies the relationship between Alfred Hitchcock (Hopkins) and his wife, Alma Reville (Mirren), during the filming of his most successful, and controversial film, Psycho.
Now being the time of year, the subject matter, and it's cast I'd assume that Hitchcock is a blatant Oscar grab. I held that opinion till about 5 minutes ago when I read the Oscar nominations and realised it didn't receive one nomination, not one! Well that has just blown the first part of my review out of the water. I was going to analyse the performance of the actors and director to underlay my opinion that the Oscars are a farce and how the Oscars these days are never the best movies of the year because the people who select them have the memories of goldfish. Well can I criticize/praise the actors' performances anyway? Yeah why not.
I think the performance of Hopkins at Hitch was quite good. He did an admirable impersonation. At the start I thought, well he is trying too hard and he is playing stereotypical Hitch. More I think about it however, that is what he was really like, and Hopkins nailed it. I do think his performance is worthy of an Oscar nomination, he probably doesn't deserve to win, but the academy should have given him some kind of nod. Now, I don't like Helen Mirren at all, even on the best of days, so she is going to have to do something very special here to change my opinion of her. Unfortunately, she did not. I mean she was solid, but as not holding a high opinion of her to start with, I went in expecting not to like her performance. This means, on more than one occassion, she pissed me off. Finally, there is Scarlett Johansson playing the blonde bombshell Janet Leigh. Now I enjoy her talents as any other man, but in this film she is just plain boring. All she does is follow Hitch around and agree to his every word like she is a little puppy. Leigh might have been like this in real life, but at least add a bit of spice to the role. I did also like the performance of James D'Arcy as Anthony Perkins but, just like this sentence, he is not utilized to his full potential.
Since it tells the story of one of the most suspenseful, and quite frankly, one of the best films ever made, does this biopic properly encapsulate the epicness of the original. In one word no. Hitchcock, at times, seems to be dull and boring. I don't know, maybe as it was about the making of a horror film, I subconsciously wanted to watch a horror movie. However, I was stuck with a drama film, and to tell you the truth, I am generally not a fan of drama films. As a result, I sat through most of the film thinking I would much rather be watching Psycho right now.
Alright lets talk shower scene. Since it is one of the best scenes, wait change that, the best scene of all time is involved here, it should be the focus of this film. And it is, but does it do the original justice? Well... it does! Horray! Everybody wins! Just like in the original, it really is the highlight of the film. Yes, there is Scarlett with no clothes on, but the real stand-out from Hitchcock, is the performance of Anthony Hopkins during the scene. Here you get to see and feel the raw emotion of Hopkins whilst keeping his flawless impersonation of the great man. Even with the great performance from Hopkins, you still feel like it is still all about the scene, rather than Hitch, because it is built up for such a long time. My criticism is that they should of played the original scene at the end of the movie, over the credits. I mean a scene that scared people out of doing a basic human need for a long time should deserve a significant amount of credit.
It also got me thinking, there are three well known films that are inspired by the murders of serial killer Ed Gein. And I mean these aren't just any three films, these are three of the best movies ever made. They, of course, are Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. There probably aren't too many people, especially outside the US, who would bat an eyelid if you mentioned the name Ed Gein, but a lot of people would have seen, or at least heard of, those three movies. This is probably a good thing, as it is never a good thing to popularize people based on such heinous crimes.
Overall: A reasonable film depicting one of the great directors, however, I couldn't help thinking I'd much prefer to be watching Psycho right now. 2.5 Stars
Next Time: Gangster Squad, yay Emma Stone!
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