Hitchcock

Bill C’s Review – 3 out of 5

Hitchcock tells the story of great filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock during the making of Psycho and his relationship with his wife Alma Reville during that time.

Alma was a great filmmaker in her own right who subjugated her career to Hitchcock’s.  Helen Mirren is excellent as Alma. Initially she plays the neglected, nagging  wife trying (and failing) to help Hitchcock keep his weight down, but eventually she helps to save the day by re-writing key sequences and helping to edit the final product. The movie-making aspects and Hitchcock’s dealings with the studio are interesting, as Psycho represented a departure and a crossroads in his career.

I had mixed emotions on Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock. His performance seemed to be a caricature of the Hitchcock from his TV show and his cameos in the movies. I think Hopkins almost smiled once in the movie. Hopefully Hitchcock was more than just his caricature.

The director also made some interesting choices in starting and ending the film as a Hitchcock TV episode. He also had some scenes with Hitchcock and the real life character that inspired the  Norman Bates character to show Hitchcock’s psychological state of mind during this time.  I don’t think these choices really added to the movie.

Hitchcock was ok, but isn’t a movie that will stick with me for a long time.

IMDB

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