In a number of his films, Alfred Hitchcock hinted at the difficulty of marriage and its imprisoning and possibly ill-fated nature. In his early work The 39 Steps, the protagonists are handcuffed to one another and pretend to be husband and wife throughout their travails; a later work Rear Window juxtaposes a number of relationships (albeit from afar) including the start and decline of a young couple's marriage as well as an older man murdering his wife. In Vertigo, a man kills off his wife and another man attempts to manipulate and transform another woman into his ideal. In Marnie, a man blackmails a compulsive thief into marrying him and then rapes her.
Marriage is naturally also the theme behind Sascha Gervasi's new film "Hitchcock," which attempts to portray the dynamics of Hitchcock and wife Alma Reville's marriage during the production of Psycho. The Master of Suspense endured a relatively sound marriage of 54 years with Reville, who worked on a number of his's projects as a supervisor, an editing partner, and writer. It was well known that she was the opinion that he sought most regarding his films.
In Hitchcock, the director is attempting to remake his image with Psycho, but his obsession over the project forces him and Reville into a number of individual risks including mortgaging their home to self-finance the project. Hitchcock's egocentric attitudes force Alma away as she starts to seek out new avenues for artistic and individual fulfillment.
The film maintains a light comic touch throughout its 98 minute running time, and it is this levity that carries the film and sustains its level of engagement. The drama on which the story hinges (the broken marriage) is well conceived as well, but other aspects of the film never quite come together as effectively. Psycho is based in part of the murders committed in Wisconsin by Ed Gein. For some odd reason, Gervasi and company thought it necessary to include Gein's character as a recurring motif in the film to explore Hitchcock's supposed violent repressions as he deals with his paranoid ideas that his wife might be cheating on him. The entire concept is ill-conceived and poorly executed and pushes the otherwise subtle drama into momentary lapses of melodrama. Despite Gervasi and company hinting at Hitchcock's potentially violent outbursts, the moments in which Hitchcock talks to Gein always seem out of place tonally and are contextually confusing. The fact that the entire subplot (which is no more than 10 to 15 minutes worth of the film) never develops into anything else than an attempt to imbue the film with suspense makes it feel cheap and unnecessary.
Anthony Hopkins is unique as Hitchcock but hardly revelatory. He maintains a rather serious expression throughout the film and delivers the Master of Suspense's dark restrained humor poignantly. There are times where the performance can get a bit overindulgent and silly however, particularly while Hitchcock conducts his audience's screams like a conductor would an orchestra late in the film. Moreover, the film and Hopkins do little to reveal much about who Hitchcock was as a person and at times seem more interested in his one-liners than the emotional depth of the character. The director's life was a mystery to all, but the work in Hitchcock never gives us much to think about outside of his obsessive nature on set and his love of Alma. The film attempts to portray Hitchcock as an underdog in many instances as he fights the studio heads to reinvent himself and while there are moments where he asks Alma if he is going to succeed, the wise cracking nature of the character distracts from any portrayal of the director coping with any lack of self-confidence. The film tries to hint at the violence behind the man with the Ed Gein subplot, but that feels forced on the viewer and fails to do anything more than to make the legendary director look inane.
Helen Mirren fares far better, mainly because Alma gets the most substantial material in the script. Mirren always brings an imposing and fierce presence to any character she portrays and her Alma Reville is no different as she is always at the ready to do light-hearted arguing with Hopkin's Hitchcock. However, this story explores that strong woman slowly falling apart after years of anonymity and questioning of self-worth. Mirren hides the character's frailty with her imposing presence but as the film develops, the mask starts to come off and the emotional reality of the frustrated artist and unrealized person comes to the fore. In a touching moment near the end of the film Mirren tells her husband why he should never doubt her loyalty or fidelity and spews a laundry list of things she has had to endure for his sake.
The supporting cast is pretty solid with Scarlett Johansen doing her best work in years as the sweet natured Janet Leight. Jessica Biel, Danny Huston, Toni Collette, and Michael Stulhbarg all bring reassuring performances in the supporting cast. James D'Arcy is practically unrecognizable as Anthony Perkins as he portrays the actor's mannerisms naturally.
The film's technical aspects are all refined (with some scarce nods to Hitchcock's style), though Danny Elfman's scoring is surprisingly disappointing. He clearly attempts to emulate the music of Bernard Hermann, but it comes off as unoriginal and uninspiring. The attempt at an homage to Hermann winds up doing no justice to the legendary composer and Elfman would have probably been better off sticking to his own style rather than imitating someone else's.
Ultimately, "Hitchcock" proves entertaining, but hardly satisfying. Helen Mirren's performance is engrossing and heartfelt, but the treatment of the film's central icon feels superficially handled by the script and filmmakers. Some fans of the historic director will surely get a laugh out of the scarce nods and hints toward his movies, but this film is not likely to linger long afterward.
Other Film Reviews by David Salazar
Silver Linings Playbook
Skyfall
Anna Karenina
Cloud Atlas Review
Argo Review
El Limpiador Review
The Sessions Review
Arbitrage Review
Trouble with the Curve Review
The Master Review
The Dark Knight Rises Review
Seeking a Friend at the End of the World Review
The Amazing Spiderman Review