Film review of "Hitchcock" (2012)

HITCHCOCK

Directed by Sacha Gervasi. Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, James D’Arcy, Richard Portnow, Jessica Biel, Kurtwood Smith, Danny Huston. Released December 14, 2012.

There is a scene in "Hitchcock" where Anthony Hopkins, in the title role, is happily wandering about the lobby listening to the audience in the theater scream during the shower sequence in "Psycho" (we can tell by the music). It is a truly delightful scene, as Hitch jostles about merrily to the beat of the music, and responds proudly to the terrified shrieks coming from inside the theater.

Despite a lackluster reaction from mainstream critics, "Hitchcock" is an interesting look at the master director's creative process while making "Psycho," which many consider to be not only his masterpiece, but perhaps the finest suspense drama ever filmed. Hopkins truly loses himself in the role, supported nicely by an effectively twitchy James D'Arcy as Anthony Perkins, a pushy Richard Portnow as Paramount head Barney Balaban, a stern Kurtwood Smith as head of the censorship board, and Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel as, respectively, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles.

However, along with Hopkins, the real standout performance is Helen Mirren as Hitch's wife Alma Reville, who was an integral part of his success throughout his career. Their belief in a story that studio executives and censors found too edgy for mainstream audiences resulted in their putting up their house to finance the project. Alma’s believe in Hitchcock’s vision was complete.

Despite the positives, the film is not flawless. There is a distracting sub-plot regarding Alma's attraction to writer Whitfield Cook (Danny Huston), while Hitch's hallucinatory fantasies about Ed Gein, the inspiration for the Norman Bates character in "Psycho," are excessive and unnecessary. But these are trifling quibbles in that the focal point of the movie is the director's creative journey from concept to execution. For those interested in the cinematic process, the movie is quite entertaining.

As with most films of this sort, there are some of the annoying historical inaccuracies that film buffs always notice. In one scene, Hitchcock is offered "The Diary of Anne Frank" after having completed "North By Northwest," but since both are 1959 releases, "Diary of Anne Frank" would already have been in post production by this time. In another scene, Hitchcock chastises studio head Barney Balaban for paying more attention to "the last six Martin and Lewis pictures." Since this is during the filming of "Psycho" it would be Jerry Lewis solo films that Hitch would refer to, not Martin and Lewis as they would have broken up years earlier.

However, despite these flaws, "Hitchcock" was a pleasantly surprising success in its revealing account of the director's passion, vision, independence from studio interference, and dependence on his wife's equally gifted ideas. It has strong performances right down to its recognizable cameos (Ralph Macchio's fidgety Joseph Stefano is a standout). And it is recommended.