I’ll be seeing Sacha Gervasi‘s Hitchcock shortly, at which point I will be able to come to a conclusion on exactly what I think of Anthony Hopkins‘ performance as the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. However, in preparation, I have posted several pictures and posters and while I don’t watch trailers (though I did see that little “Turn Your Phone Off” PSA they had Hopkins do in character), if we’re being honest, I don’t see a performance here, I see mimicry.
I see Hopkins pretending to be Alfred Hitchcock and it just doesn’t look comfortable to me. I see him trying to stand like him and carry himself as Hitch carried himself — head back, belly out and slightly regal. The posture is close, but it doesn’t look natural, and the poster below looks more like an advertisement for a Hitchcock-inspired Halloween party than a poster for a feature film.
Without seeing the film this can certainly be interpreted as harsh criticism, but marketing material is distributed with the intention of capturing our attention and allowing us to make a judgment call on what we expect from the film. At this point I am expecting a costume party and hoping for good drama, I hope I’m wrong on the first point and more than right on the second…
