Hitchcock (Sacha Gervasi, 2012)

A slice of the legendary filmmaker's life from the period when he went out on a limb to test the pulling power of his reputation by making Psycho, at a time when serious directors did not do horror, Hitchcock is really the story of the relationship between him and his wife Alma, which was sorely tested over the years by his preoccupation with blonde starlets. The arch script allows the stalwarts Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren ample room to trade sharp one-liners, and the chief pleasure of the film lies almost wholly in those moments, with thin scenes involving less imposing supporting cast members such as Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh feeling like so much filler. Likewise, intermittent fantasy scenes where Hitchcock has conversations with Ed Gein, the real-life serial killer who inspired the story of Psycho, reveal nothing about either the director's psyche or the subtexts of his work. Nevertheless, the interplay of the two veterans just about keeps things ticking, even if Hopkins is at times visibly struggling to emote through the piles of prosthetics and make-up caking him.

5/10