Film Review: "Hitchcock" (2012).

"Good evening. Well, brother has been killing brother since Cain and Abel, yet even I didn't see that coming. I was as blindsided as poor old Henry down there. And apparently, the authorities shared my naïveté. In other words, they believed the young man's story. That Henry fell, hit his head on a stone and died of smoke asphyxiation. On the other hand, if they hadn't believed him, Ed Gein would never have had the opportunity to commit those heinous crimes for which he became most famous. And we, of course, well… we wouldn't have our little movie, would we?" Which is what Hitchcock is all about. This biographical drama film directed by Sacha Gervasi and based on Stephen Rebello's non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. Hitchcock centers on the loving relationship between influential director Alfred Hitchcock and his wife and collaborator Alma Reville during the making of Psycho (1960).

Psycho was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, which in turn is based loosely on the case of convicted Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein. Hitchcock acquired rights to the novel for $9,500. Paramount executives did not want to produce the film and refused to provide the budget that Hitchcock received from them for previous films with the studio. Hitchcock countered with the offer to finance the film personally and to film it at Universal-International if Paramount would distribute. James P. Cavanagh, who had written some of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television shows, wrote the original screenplay. Hitchcock rejected it. Despite Stefano's newness to the industry, Hitchcock hired him. The film, independently produced by Hitchcock, was shot at Revue Studios, the same location as his television show. Psycho was shot on a tight budget of $806,947.55, beginning on November 11, 1959 and ending on February 1, 1960. Hitchcock insisted that Bernard Herrmann write the score for Psycho, in spite of the composer's refusal to accept a reduced fee for the film's lower budget. Psycho initially received mixed reviews, but outstanding box office returns prompted a re-review which was overwhelmingly positive and led to four Academy Award nominations. Psycho is now considered one of Hitchcock's best films and is highly praised as a work of cinematic art by international critics. It is often ranked among the greatest films of all time and is famous for bringing in a new level of acceptable violence and sexuality in films. In 1992, the film was selected to be preserved by the Library of Congress at the National Film Registry.

The performances in the film were all incredible and brilliantly portrayed and to conclude it mostly lives and breathes because of Hopkins and Mirren. Hopkins and Mirren take charge of the central roles of the great Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville with authority that makes you wonder how anybody else could ever have been considered for those roles.

Aggressively likable and thrilling to a fault, Hitchcock pays tribute to the Hitchcock legacy with excellent performances and dark comical charm.

Simon says Hitchcock receives: