Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) is stressing
over finding the next movie he wants and he stumbles upon the book Psycho which he wants to do as his next movie. His wife (Helen Mirren) supports him and helps with rewrites and casting choices. HITCHCOCK is an interesting character portrait of one of the greatest directors of the 20th
century, but the story doesn’t entirely work even though it does give a good look at man who invested his own money
to make the biggest hit of his career. The casting choices and performances are
spot on, but subplots like Hitchcock’s wife friendship with a writer (who wants Hitchcock to make his book into a movie)
sometimes stops the momentum of the film dead in its tracks.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
OBSESSED WITH HITCHCOCK- a three part making-of
featurette that goes over how the project came about to the production of the movie.
BECOMING THE MASTER: FROM HOPKINS TO HITCHCOCK-
a behind-the-scenes look at how they transformed Anthony Hopkins to look like Hopkins playing Hitchcock (with make-up tests)
SACHA GERVASI’S BEHIND-THE-SCENES
CELL PHONE FOOTAGE
HITCHCOCK CELL PHONE PSA is something you
have probably seen at least once if you have gone to see a movie in a Cineplex or movie theater.
REMEMBERING HITCHCOCK- people tell stories
abut their memories of Alfred Hitchcock.
Shorter featurettes include THE STORY,
THE CAST, HITCH AND ALMA, and DANNY ELFMAN MASESTRO which are mainly promotional fluff.
Rounding out the extras on the blu-ray
disc are the original theatrical trailer and sneak previews for other Fox releases.
Also included in the combo pack are the movie on DVD and a code for an Ultraviolet digital copy.
FINAL ANALYSIS: HITCHCCOCK is a hit and miss affair. The characters are great
in the film, but the story felt a little overlong even though it is only a 98 minute film.
The extras are a mixed bag with some good insights and the usual promo fluff.
This review is (c)3-15-2013 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com
