HITCHCOCK (American Film Institute Fest Los Angeles California USA 2012)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 4.4|5.0 Stars ìììì

Hitchcock—honors the Master of Suspense during the time that he decided to make the movie Psycho. The script is masterfully written and deploys well because it reveals the close relationship Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) had with his wife, Alma (Helen Mirren), and the importance that relationship had in propelling his career forward. A particularly poignant scene has Hitchcock telling Alma that Psycho is stillborn without her input. While I have many favorite directors—Nolan, Spielberg, Jackson, Miller, Scorcese, Ridley Scott, Bigelow, Coen Brothers, Wachowski Brothers, Leone, Coppola—for their ability to invoke and synthesize emotion, music, and intellect through entertainment, Hitchcock holds my devotion for his ability to invoke suspense. Director Sasha Gervasi did a great job in bringing John J. McLaughlin’s script to the big screen.

Storyline

Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins), after getting accolades for his film North by Northwest with Cary Grant, decides to break form and make something more daring. He chooses a Robert Bloch novel Psycho as the basis for his next film. The rest of the film details what went on behind the scenes in making Psycho, how an apparent failure ends as one of Hitchcock’s most renowned movies.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Director Sacha Gervashi for his directing efforts. Thank you to Executive Producers Ali Bell and Richard Middleton for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Janet Leigh (Scarlett Johansson), Whitfield Cook (Danny Huston) Peggy (Toni Collette), Lew Wasserman (Michael Stuhlbarg), Ed Gein (Michael Wincott), Vera Miles (Jessica Biel), Anthony Perkins (James D’Arcy), Barney Balaban (Richard Portnow), and Geoffrey Shurlock (Kurtwood Smith).

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Ben Meyers