When it comes to Oscar-bait, there are two types of films. There are those that can be dismissed as overdone, earnest melodrama, reaching for that statue with their entire being. These films, while they might be good films, have a tendency to grate one’s nerves, making you struggle to see the film’s true virtues.
And then there are the love letters, the tributes to cinema, its techniques and masters, that seem so effortless and deft that standing and cheering is the only logical response.
Hitchcock, directed by Sacha Gervasi (Anvil: The Story of Anvil) appears to be the latter.
Based around the making of Psycho, the film attempts to show us the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, and the trials that the pair went through to make what would become such a controversial film.
Hitchcock, based on the book by Stephen Rebello, stars Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, James D’Arcy and Jessica Biel and opens on November 23, 2012.
