Monday's Words of Wisdom

"And since the movie is basically the "Oscars for Tony and Helen" show, let's go ahead and end with them: both are perfectly satisfactory, neither is revelatory: Mirren can do this kind of character in her sleep and very much seems to have done just that, rousing herself only for the florid Oscar clip scene that showed up so big in the trailer ("all they can see is the Great and Glorious genius AL-fred Hitch-cock!!!"), while Hopkins, considerable more alert and robust in his unashamedly hammy performance, resembles the famous director not at all: his makeup is a joke, but of course that's not the actor's fault, and while Hopkins gets the positively dehydrated sense of humor down, and in the film's opening nails a perfect "good evening", he doesn't come even close to capturing the psychological dysfunction that the movie wants us to see there, very clearly preferring to play a more avuncular Hitch than the screenplay apparently has in mind."
- Tim Brayton

Tim Brayton, as I've noted long ago, is one of my favourite writers, and I can always depend on him for articulating my thoughts in ways much more eloquent than I can ever hope to do on my own. The excerpt above is taken from his brilliant review of Sascha Gervasi's Hitchcock, which you may remember I mildly liked if only because it made for a fun double bill with Psycho. I noted in my own review that "Hopkins is never Hitchcock; he's Hopkins playing Hitchcock. And the same can be said of Biel and Johansson, unfortunately" so I think Tim's right on the money with this one. I do wonder, though, if Mirren and Hopkins have what it takes to be in the Oscar race despite their clip-ready performances. This is far, far from their best work and both have been well-rewarded in the past.

Hitchcock

Grade: B-

My first thought upon hearing that there was a double bill of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Sacha Gervasi's Hitchcock going on in Toronto last night was that it was a disastrous idea. Psycho is in the highest echelon of cinema's greatest and very few films can live up to its level of quality. Sight unseen, a biopic by a first time director at the helm doesn't promise to be one of those films. And having now seen Hitchcock, it is clear that it does not, indeed, come anywhere close to Psycho's cinematic mastery. But the organizers' decision to show the films back to back has to be commended. In retrospect, the double bill might be reason I enjoyed Hitchcock so much. It isn't a perfect film by any means - or even a great film, for that matter - but it works as a sort of unclenching of the fists and letting out a sigh of relief after two suspenseful hours spent in Bates Motel.

Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) is just coming off the successful release of North by Northwest when Gervasi's eponymous film opens, but he doesn't get to revel in the spotlight for long. As a reporter reminds him that he's in the twilight of his career despite his recent success, Hitchcock becomes determined to tackle a project that gets his creative juices flowing, something fresh and different. Countless number of projects are on offer but he rejects all of them in favour of adapting Psycho, a gory slasher book by Robert Bloch based on the true story of murders by Ed Gein. Initially, the idea sounds ludicrous to everyone around him but this reaction coupled with Paramount's decision to reject financing the film only urges him further to get the project off the ground. His ever supportive wife, Alma Reville (Helen Mirren), is right by his side as they decide to finance the film out of pocket and risk losing their home.

Toby Jones' Biopic Problem

Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock

A few days ago, the first picture of Anthony Hopkins in the film Hitchcock was released. The Sasha Gervasi-helmed film tells the behind the scenes story of the making of Psycho and Hopkins stars as the legendary director. I think the make-up team’s done a fantastic job, though one profile is not much to go by.

But here’s the interesting part: the announcement only came a couple of weeks after the first still of Toby Jones as Hitchcock from the TV movie The Girl. Normally, we’re used to getting two films at once about the same topic - Snow White being the most recent example. But this BBC drama will mark the second time that Toby Jones has played second class citizen to a bigger star in a biopic.

In Infamous, he starred as Truman Capote only a year after Philip Seymour Hoffman recreated the controversial author in Bennett Miller’s Capote and won an Oscar for it. Infamous didn’t generate as much buzz, and although I don’t think as highly of the film and its central performance as I do of Miller’s, I know people who think Jones gave the defter portrayal. Had Hoffman not won an Oscar so recently, could he have gained more acclaim? Who knows, but I think we can all assume that once again, the other Hitchcock portrayal will be the one with all the buzz – especially given the TV nature of Jones’ version.

Toby Jones and Sienna Miller as Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren

Maybe one day Jones can finally get a biopic all to himself? Abe Lincoln and Grace Kelly are out of the question, but there’s gotta be someone else he can play, right?