Much like last year’s TV movie, The Girl, it does not try to tackle Hitchcock’s entire life, but restricts itself to one film; in this instance, we’re to concentrate on the period in which he made arguably his most famous motion picture, Psycho (1960). Somewhat stymied after the success of North by Northwest (1959), Hitch (Hopkins) is searching for fresh inspiration. Whilst his dependable wife, Alma (Mirren), suggests adapting a new novel by her friend, Whitfield Cook (Danny Huston), Hitch comes across Robert Bloch’s disturbing Psycho.
Fascinated by the macabre, Hitch decrees that this is will be the basis of his next adaptation - come hell or high water. No studio will support the project though, so they re-mortgage their home to pay for it and must battle against the censors and the studio to get it made. Sadly, what might have been an incisive examination of one of the most fascinating auteurs in cinema history, or a thrilling tale of the perseverance necessary to complete the project, is not. It is tonally all over the place and ultimately falls rather flat. Flitting between broad humour and bizarrely disturbed sequences in which a projection real-life serial killer Ed Gein plays the little devil on Hitch’s shoulder, this may be an attempt to convey the director’s conflicted personality but sadly doesn't work.The rest of the cast all look the part with Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel and James D'Arcy very well cast as the famous stars of the film. They are almost there as set dressing, however, and any interesting sub-plots that they raise are quickly extinguished. Regrettably, we’re left primarily with the Hitchcocks and whilst Helen Mirren does admirably, the latex smothering Hopkins performance does not. If you are a Hitch fan you might think that this is worth a watch anyway, and you may be right, but I am a huge admirer and found this dreary to the point of distraction and utterly disappointing.