Hitchcock

PG-13

Released Dec 14, 2012

1 hr. 38 min.

History

Drama

Biography

List

60%

217 Reviews

Tomatometer

60%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Following his great success with "North by Northwest," director Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) makes a daring choice for his next project: an adaptation of Robert Bloch's novel "Psycho." When the studio refuses to back the picture, Hitchcock decides to pay for it himself in exchange for a percentage of the profits. His wife, Alma Reville (Helen Mirren), has serious reservations about the film but supports him nonetheless. Still, the production strains the couple's marriage.

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Critics Consensus

Though it suffers from tonal inconsistency and a lack of truly insightful retrospection, Hitchcock is elevated by inspired performances from its two distinguished leads.

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Jens B

I was in need of some light entertainment and that's exactly what I got. - great performances, especially Helen Mirren - lots of visual clues taken from Hitchcock's pictures - I liked that this film focuses more on the relationship between Hitchcock and Alma Reville, and tries to dive deeper into Hitch's psyche - I didn't like how rushed and shallow the result was All in all: entertaining but rushed and a too shallow, I am curious to read the book though

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/08/23

Full Review

Shioka O

It's a fun watch, and the actors are professional whether the movie is believable or not.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/10/23

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Mark A

Interesting back story on the making of Psycho, but Anthony Hopkins just doesn't look like Hitchcock.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/20/22

Full Review

Mike J

Alfresco hitches is creeping in the theater

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/29/22

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kyle e

'Hitchcock' had real potential to be great, being a biopic on one of the greatest and most influential directors ever and with such a great cast. It could have been much better and is an uneven film, but is a better Hitchcock biopic than 'The Girl' from the same period. It looks great for starters. The cinematography is sumptuous and colourful, and the costume, set and production design and scenery are both eye-catching and evocative. Danny Elfman's score has a lot of atmosphere but also a liveliness and whimsy, even including a chilling and very well used nod to the iconic score from 'Psycho'. A very heavily up Anthony Hopkins makes a valiant effort as Hitch, and it is a spirited, gleefully relished and well-studied characterisation that is much more subtly written than how Hitch was written in 'The Girl' (though in that Toby Jones did do very well indeed with what he was given). Helen Mirren cuts an enigmatic and firm yet sympathetic presence as wife Alma. In support, coming off particularly well are Scarlett Johanssen's spot-on Janet Leigh and Toni Collette who is always good even in material beneath her. While under-used, the Anthony Perkins of James D'Arcy is also ideal casting. Coming off less well are Danny Huston's pretty irritating Whitfield Cook, Ralph Macchio's too old and jarringly too modern-looking Joseph Stefano (kept seeing the Karate Kid rather than Stefano, which really took me out of the film) and Jessica Biel who also feels miscast as Vera Miles, a case of recognisable name and star quality over whether they fit the character or period or both (neither of which Biel does). 'Hitchcock's' storytelling is also uneven and unfocused, likewise with the direction which badly struggles with the balancing of plot strand and tone shifts. 'Hitchcock' fares well in the making of 'Pyscho' and Hitch's belligerent reaction to 'North By Northwest's' success, which is fascinating and there should have been much more of it, and in the strong and quite touching chemistry between Hopkins and Mirren. It however underwhelms badly in the very unconvincingly written and unlikely love triangle, which sees Alma falling for Whitfield Cook, a big problem when that has more screen time than the story elements 'Hitchcock' does well in. And also in the tonally odd, padded out (they were clearly there for padding too) and out of place scenes with Ed Gein which was an attempt to bring a fantasy element to the film, and a ghoulish one, but it was woefully misjudged (a shame because Michael Wincott is eerily good as Gein, so much so that if a film is made about Gein in the future Wincott should be up for serious consideration to play him). Some of the dialogue is clunky and not just underuses characters that would have made the film even more interesting (Perkins definitely should have been in the film longer) but the way Alma is written can be considered a character assassination, practically hero-worshipping her and while not vilifying Hitch necessarily there is the very strong and blatant implication that he was lazy, not as clever as he clearly was to make so many great films and that he would not have had the success he had without Alma. The way the characters are written are sketchy and one-dimensional, and despite so much promise one does question the film's point. All in all, intriguing enough but very uneven. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Delightful movie, great performances

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

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Sacha Gervasi

Director

Anthony Hopkins

Alfred Hitchcock

Helen Mirren

Alma Reville

Scarlett Johansson

Janet Leigh

Toni Collette

Peggy Robertson

Danny Huston

Whitfield Cook

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Deborah Ross

The Spectator

Would have been much better off if it had taken a moment to sit down and decide on its own sensibility... It might have settled on the one, and retained its focus. But it didn't, so it doesn't, and it tells us nothing.

Sep 4, 2018

Full Review

Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

If Hitchcock himself was alive today, he'd undoubtedly turn his nose up.

Rated: D+

Sep 7, 2017

Full Review

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

The cod-psychologising is a little clunky but [Helen] Mirren's Mrs Hitch is inspiringly ballsy - with a dollop of the vulnerability that made you sob in The Queen.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 1, 2017

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The acting is top-notch all around, but Gervasi’s treatment makes one want to pick up a Hitchcock biography instead.

Rated: 2.5/4

Sep 21, 2022

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Most closely resembling a romantic comedy, the film's tone keeps the proceedings consistently entertaining, but also prevents intrusion of any serious drama.

Rated: 8/10

Dec 1, 2020

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

As marvelous as is Hopkins, the film simply wouldn't be the same without the presence of Helen Mirren as Hitchcock's longtime companion Alma Reville.

Rated: 3.5/4.0

Sep 10, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Following his great success with "North by Northwest," director Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) makes a daring choice for his next project: an adaptation of Robert Bloch's novel "Psycho." When the studio refuses to back the picture, Hitchcock decides to pay for it himself in exchange for a percentage of the profits. His wife, Alma Reville (Helen Mirren), has serious reservations about the film but supports him nonetheless. Still, the production strains the couple's marriage.

Director: Sacha Gervasi
Executive Producer: Ali Bell, Richard Middleton
Screenwriter: John J. McLaughlin
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Production Co: Fox Searchlight, Dune, Montecito Picture Company
Rating: PG-13 (Some Violent Images|Sexual Content|Thematic Material)
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 14, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 12, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $6.0M
Sound Mix: Datasat, Dolby

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