"Hitchcock" is the story of the trials and tribulations it took the legendary "Master of Suspense" Alfred Hitchcock to get what many to consider his signature film "Psycho" to the big screen. While most of the film is done very well "Hitchcock" struggles in some places as it tries to separate itself from other biopics.
Anthony Hopkins under a slew of makeup plays "Hitch" as he is lovingly referred to by most in his inner circle including his wife and collaborator "Alma" played by hot old broad of the moment Helen Mirren. Much has been said about if Hopkins actually resembles the real Hitchcock in this movie, now granted the makeup job here is nowhere near to the levels that was shown in "Lincoln" as you are always aware that's Hopkins under the fake nose, prosthetic belly and bald cap but it doesn't take away from the performance that he gives-one of his better in the last ten years. Both Hopkins and Mirren can do this stuff in their sleep, there is nothing really challenging here but if put in other hands it could of gotten very messy. The supporting players including Toni Collette as Hitch's assistant Peggy and the ever increasingly beautiful Scarlett Johansson as early "scream queen" Janet Leigh (its nice to see Johansson take a break from green screens and get back to her indie roots), also look for a blink and you miss it cameo from Karate Kid himself Ralph Macchio. Jessica Biel shows up as actress Vera Miles and does what Jessica Biel does best: look good but bring absolutely nothing to the table.
The movie starts after the success of "North By Northwest" Hitchcock, now 60 is worried that he has reached his peak as a filmmaker and desperately wants to keep the title of "Master of Suspense". He discovers a script for "Psycho" based in part on real life serial killer Ed Gein and decides that this will be his next movie. "Psycho" was revolutionary for the time for many reasons, most importantly it was the first "horror" movie to be directed by a respected, mainstream director as well as star established actors and was going to show such horrifying images such as a man dressed in his mother's clothing and a toilet being flushed on film-needless to say the movie studio wanted no part of it and only agrees to distribute it once it is agreed that Hitchcock himself will finance the movie with his own money. These early scenes as well as the scenes involving filming the movie itself are what makes "Hitchcock" most effective. The other plot involving Hitchcock and Alma's relationship with themselves and Alma's "will she or won't she" relationship with a screenwriter played by Danny Huston and Hitch's notorious obsession with his leading ladies mostly falls flat and for a moment you almost forget that there is something much more important going on elsewhere. Another interesting thing that director Sacha Gervasi does is place Hitchcock in dream sequences with Ed Gein during the filming of Psycho, something that no one other than Hitch would know if actually happened but puts you in the mind of one of the great directors of all time.
No spoiler alert here but it is known that ultimately Psycho was released and was extremely successful and broke new ground for the movie industry as a whole as well as how movies are promoted and distributed today. It also shows that "horror" and "scary movies" can be for more than teenage kids looking for cheap thrills and a good excuse to sit n the back row of the theater, I'd like to see studios today actually put money into scary movies with actually decent scripts and actors and actresses not just on summer break from their CW TV series.
Movies about making movies are almost a genre in of itself and along with "Argo" this is the first time I can remember two films about the subject are being released so closely together and receiving mainstream publicity. I think Hitchcock shies from too many "industry" jokes and lingo to make it more accessible to mainstream audiences, which works for it in terms of financial gain from the box office but may also harm its credibility for those looking for a true, true to life story.
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