Hitchcock is a movie about famous dead people played by famous contempo actors. With a lesser cast this biopic helmed by Sacha Gervasi (Anvil: The Story of Anvil) would be a cable movie. As Hitchcock stands it bears interest mainly because of the talent on display and the scenery mulching skills of leads Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren as Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock. (“Mr. Hitchcock.” “Just Hitch, hold the cock.”)
It was easy enough recognizing modern thesps fitting into historical characters like a tight glove: Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Danny Huston as Whitfield Cook, Toni Colette as Hitch’s secretary, Michael Stuhlbarg as Len Wasserman, Michael Wincott as Ed Gein (seen in a fantasy sequence), James D’Arcy as Anthony Perkins. There are a couple of others and I’d be lying if I said I recognized Ralph Maccio as Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stefano. I thought it was Mark Ruffalo until the credit roll.
Hitchcock deals exclusively with the production of Psycho with the emphasis of how Hitch used his own money to proceed with filming when Paramount backed down. (Hitchcock the movie is released by Fox Searchlight and shows off that distributor’s finesse for quality production values mixed with intimate storytelling.) There’s plenty of cinematic grist for the movie mill since Hitchcock is a film about film. Hitchcock despite being a low-key cinematic event will enjoy a long shelf life no doubt propelled by the audiences’ familiarity with the material. After all Psycho is a landmark film from the 20th century.
– Michael Bergeron
