For People who Love Helen Mirren

"Hitchcock" is my platonic ideal of a movie. A big, meaty role for Helen Mirren. A chance for Anthony Hopkins to be funny.

An effort to recreate Golden Days in Hollywood history. Gorgeous shots of the California coastline. Screen time for Toni Collette, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Danny Huston, Jessica Biel.

Delightful trivia. For example: The candy corn in "Psycho" came from Anthony Perkins. The actor Perkins liked having candy around. And Hitchcock had to fight the censors to include a shot of a toilet; this part of a restroom had never been seen on screen before. Hitchcock drafted a manifesto for screening- room operators: "How to Show PSYCHO." ("Do not allow late admissions. No private screenings for critics. Stars will not make the rounds for interviews....")

But the reason I really like this film is that it's a marriage story. Helen Mirren has grown tired of Hitchcock--his selfishness and ego. Mirren acts out; she begins an emotional affair with Danny Huston, a writer. Mirren drags Hitchcock into the affair: Will he read a piece by Danny Huston? As Hitchcock destroys the piece, Mirren becomes visibly wounded. Then you see her make a calculation: I will not show that I'm hurt. And her face changes: She looks wry. But--when Hitchcock puts his head down--Mirren quickly glances at him, to get any visual info available. She won't show how curious she is--but she'll try to make something out of that secret curiosity, if she can.

The script is sometimes silly, and it doesn't seem to work very hard to uncover what was really happening between the two Hitchcocks.

But the fantasy it offers--the glorious sunsets, the lavish meals, the occasional well-structured fiery monologue--is great fun on any Sunday afternoon.

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