Hitchcock: Yes, I finally saw it...

On my way over to Hawaii via airline during Spring Break, I was able to use an inflight entertainment tablet device to watch Hitchcock, a biopic on one of the legendary director.

Hitchcock:
The film chronicles Alfred Hitchcock's midlife crisis and the making of his classic horror-thriller Psycho. Interestingly, around the same time this film was released, BBC and HBO did a TV film biopic called The Girl, which starred Sienna Miller and Toby Jones, and shows Hitchcock as a controlling pervert. This theatrical film definitely shows his strange quirks and obsession with his leading ladies, but doesn't go to the negative extremes. The film also explores the fact that his wife Alma had a profound effect on him and his films. Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren give great performances as Alfred and Alma Hitchcock, and Hopkins is nearly unrecognizable under the prosthetic makeup. Scarlett Johansson gives a good performance as Janet Leigh. The large cast also includes Kurtwood Smith (That 70's Show, Robocop), Toni Collette, Jessica Biel, James D'Arcy (Cloud Atlas), Danny Huston, Ralph Macchio (The Karate Kid, Ugly Betty, The Outsiders, My Cousin Vinny), and Michael Wincott (The Crow, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Three Musketeers, Metro). The film has some excellent drama, and some very effective comedic bits. The film's tone is mostly of a dramady, not as dark as The Girl. The film is actually based on a book by Stephen Rebello called Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. The movie makes a funny reference to another Hitchcock film at the ending that I won't spoil here. This movie was hyped up, so I had my expectations set pretty high. Not to burst anyone's hopes (those who haven't seen the film), but it's no surprise the film didn't win any big Oscars. Not saying the film is bad, it's actually pretty good. Skyfall was excellent and that didn't win any major Oscars. But when set to the bar of films like Skyfall, Lincoln, Life of Pi, Argo, Wreck-It Ralph, and even Les Miserables, this film does not meet expectations. Hitchcock is an entertaining and clever biopic, but not one where you feel like you want to see it again right after your watch it. 3/5 stars.

 (Image: Wikipedia)