My Review of Hitchcock (2012)

 

Written by John J. McLaughlin

Directed by Sacha Gervasi 

Alfred: "I will never find a Hitchcock blonde as beautiful as you."

Alma: "Oh, Hitch. I've waited thirty years to hear you say that."

Alfred: "And that my dear, is why they call me the Master of Suspense."

Last year when I was watching Monster: The Ed Gein Story, I had some mixed feelings on the handling of the Psycho side of things. I also knew that I needed to watch this particular movie. That's what I got around to the other day.

This movie could be split into three different stories. There's the making of a certain movie by Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) and everything that came with it. Then there's also Hitchcock's marriage to Alma Revelle (Helen Mirren) and an exploration into his fixation on younger blonde leading ladies.

In priority, let's go with the production of Psycho first. The studio wanted another North By Northwest but Alfred wanted to make something that would shock the audience, even if he had to make certain sacrifices in order to get it done.

There's a look into some of his casting choices like Anthony Perkins (James D'Arcy), Janet Leigh (Scarlett Johansson), Vera Miles (Jessica Biel) and John Gavin (Josh Yeo). Oddly enough, Anthony's the least focused in that group of actors as the focus pivoted more towards Janet and Vera.

It's no secret that Hitchcock could be a menace to his leading ladies and I definitely like this movie attempted to address this but in a way that didn't add much to it. He's kind enough to Janet but he also admitted to derailing Vera because the latter became a mother.

The strongest aspect of the movie was anything involving Hitchcock's marriage to Alma. It's briefly threatened by her friendship with writer Whitfield Cook (Danny Huston) but they had an enduring marriage and thematically, it's the spine of this film. 

- Hitchcock had visions of Ed Gein (Michael Wincott) throughout the film. Ed's murder of his brother was the opening scene.

- Anthony's homosexuality (and Norman Bates being queer) and his own mommy issues were mentioned. Anthony also alluded to both Rope and Strangers On A Train.

- Standout music: Charles Gounod's Funeral March Of A Marionette.

- Chronology: It's set during the production and premiere of Psycho.

Hitchcock (2012) did lose points for not really giving a certain aspect the focus it needed. Overall, it's a strong look into the legendary director and his most infamous of works. Both Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren are fantastic.

Rating: 7 out of 10