Review of Hitchcock (2012) by Kate H — 05 Apr 2013

I love this movie. I love it to bits. It had me from the opening scene - Ed Gein has just murdered his brother and then the camera pans over to Hitchcock sipping tea and introducing us to the film in the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" style. Had me right there I must admit.

Anthony Hopkins does an amazing job, I am shocked he didn't at least get a Best Actor nod at the Oscars. In fact I'm shocked this movie didn't get any nominations at all. Everyone is well cast but Hopkins is our star. The transformation is just as good as anything I've seen and the cast for the Psycho cast is also well picked. James D'Arcy is a mean Anthony Perkins, Scarlett Johansson is an interesting Janet Leigh, but my favourite I think has to be Jessica Biel as Vera Miles. She brings that darker side of Hitch as a director to front. He had a bit of an obsessive streak when it came to his leading ladies and she reminds us of that. That and Hopkins does that himself in his scenes where he is an insanely demanding director.

Helen Mirren as Hitch's wife, Alma Reville is also noteworthy. She plays the role of Hitch's life partner in every way but still plays a rival as well. Alma is fantastic.

Psycho is one of my favourite movies of all time so I lived that parts of this film felt like a behind the scene featurette. I loved the detail to the scenes, even the movements and the inflections of the actors pretending to be the cast. It could have been easy to just play the film in the background instead but they didn't. Psycho invented the modern horror film and its marketing campaign and admission policy is something that will never be seen again. I loved seeing it in action and seeing the first audiences see it for the first time. The scene of Hitch conducting the audience in the hallway is amazing.

The film is a drama but also a comedy. Hitch's dry humour and macabre sensibility is everywhere and it makes this film just that much more fun. Like the beginning being perfect, the end where he signs off "AHP" style, he laments having no inspiration for the next film and then a crow lands on his shoulder.

I adore this movie. It was so much fun and I am so torn between watching it again and watching Psycho.