Hitchcock (12A)

Film

Helen Mirren in Hitchcock

Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5
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Time Out says

Tue Feb 5

He was the world’s most famous film director, yet Alfred Hitchcock gambled his reputation on a horror pic deemed so toxic by Hollywood that he had to bankroll it himself. ‘Psycho’ was the epoch-changing result, and this fact-based drama zooms in on its making, examining Hitchcock the artist and man when the pressure was on. On the making-of details, it’s breezily entertaining (notwithstanding the absence of any real ‘Psycho’ footage) as Anthony Hopkins’s Master of Suspense battles to preserve his vision. However, when Sacha Gervasi’s follow-up to his splendid music doc ‘Anvil’ ponders just what this shocking tale of voyeurism says about Hitchcock’s own psyche, it has less to say.

Fantasy sequences where Hitch confers with notorious serial killer Ed Gein – inspiration for the original novel – prove little more than a cheeky gimmick, and while this portrait goes easier on Hitchcock’s sexual manipulation of his leading ladies than the BBC’s recent ‘The Girl’, the insights are as familiar as they are superficial. That’s partly due to an overloaded story, which skimps on Scarlett Johansson’s perky, businesslike Janet Leigh, majoring instead on speculative asides tracking Hitch’s spouse and creative confidante Alma Reville (Helen Mirren, regally spiky) as she dares to work and flirt with another writer.

Still, Mirren and Hopkins excel in each other’s company, neediness and jealousy glinting in their sly, affectionate banter of married routine. Also, the dialogue is almost zippy enough to convince us they’re in a better movie than the scatty, intriguing but slightly undercooked one we’re actually watching.

Author: Trevor Johnston

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Release details

Rated:

12A

UK release:

Fri Feb 8, 2013

Duration:

98 mins

Cast and crew

Director:

Sacha Gervasi

Cast:

Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson

Cinemas showing Hitchcock

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Queen of Hoxton

Rating: 3/5

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 3/5 (2 ratings)

  • Thoroughly enjoyable. Very good performances from Hopkins and Mirren - with a sparky on-screen performance between the two of them. Probably one I'll see again in a few weeks time.

    MikeT Wed Feb 13
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  • Cosy albeit rather tedious little movie which would have been suited better, perhaps, to tv. Hopkins seems to be enjoying himself to the fullest in a turn which had me smiling constantly and Mirren is always lovely to view.

    critique Tue Feb 12
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • Ghastly film and a travesty to a great talent. The totally fabricated story regarding Alma's flirting and possible infidelity is risible - obviously contrived to 'build up' the part for Helen Mirren's sake. And casting Mirren as Alma is comparable to casting, say, George Clooney as Hitch. F*cking hated it!

    yiorgos Mon Feb 11
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  • Really bad website. Hitchcock Shepherds bush 0 results found....not true. Same problem last weekend!

    Amanda Carter-Savigear Fri Feb 8
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  • (Sir) Anthony Hopkins is certainly unrecognisable in this rôle, knows it and hams it up for all it is worth in a padded suit, a pleasant enough low budget film with a "made for tv" feel to it. I don't think I learnt very much about Hitch beyond some well trod clichés about Psycho. Johansson is the eye candy so we get to know little to nothing about Leigh (or Hopkins) due to lack of any substance in the script. That said Helen Mirren is fantastic as Alma Reville and steals the film showing just what a leading lady over a certain age can do if you cast them. I wanted to clap when she forceable explains to Hitch the duties of a director's wife, sit through the credits to spot Gervaisi's charming thank-you to Jessica 'Alma' de Rothschild and a final film moment just as the film ends. A sugar coated film to enjoy with your popcorn especially if you recently felt cheated by Quartet

    Paul Tue Feb 5
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • Great film, it was a lot more interesting than expected and first time fiction director Gervasi has a real feel for the script which could have been tonally all over the place. Hopkins is great - its his best role in years and Mirren a great foil. James D'Arcy simply IS Anthony Hopkins and its a shame he's only in two substantial scenes.

    Ricci the Raccon Thu Nov 15 2012
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