HITCHCOCK (2012)

Hitchcock (Hopkins) and Leigh (Johansson) share a ride and a laugh

HITCHCOCK (2012). Director: Sacha Gervasi.

"I was filming all day with John Gavin. Plywood is more expressive!" -- Hitchcock supposedly talking about actor John Gavin

If you take it with a grain of salt, this is an interesting and entertaining look at Alfred Hitchcock during the days when he was making Psycho, detailing the skepticism with which the project was greeted by the studio and others, showing how he cast the film and got along with the people he made it with. Did Hitch really peep at Vera Miles (Jessica Biel) while she was undressing? Probably not, but Hitchcock takes certain, shall we say, dramatic liberties. Anthony Hopkins is really nothing like Hitch, but his performance is still good, and Helen Mirren is excellent as his wife and collaborator, Alma, who seems very drawn to a novelist (Danny Huston) who is working on a screenplay with her. The best scene has Alma telling off Hitchcock in blunt if loving fashion late in the movie. Scarlet Johansson makes an effective and personable Janet Leigh. James D'Arcy gets little to do as Anthony Perkins, but the private lives of the actors in Psycho generally go unexplored and some -- such as Martin Balsam and John Gavin -- barely appear at all. The relationship between Alfred and Alma is depicted primarily as a loving and professional friendship. Hitchcock barely touches on the outrage and disgust that the film engendered in many quarters when it was released. The film is good-looking and well-paced.

Verdict: If you don't take it seriously as biography, this is a nice picture all told. ***.

TOTAL RECALL (2012)

Jessica Biel and Colin Farrell

TOTAL RECALL (2012). Director: Len Wiseman.

In this remake of an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, the future is a depressing place, the earth ravaged by chemical warfare, with only two inhabitable sections left: The United Federation of Britain, and a place called the Colony (the situation is similar to apartheid in South Africa). As in most visions of the future these days, the cities are built in towering levels. Instead of using airliners, workers get from the colony to UFB by descending through the earth inside a humongous elevator called the "Fall." Trying to escape the aridity of his existence, factory worker Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) visits a memory-altering place called "Total Recall" for an adventure, but discovers that his entire identity is a complete lie -- he's another person entirely. And his "wife" (Kate Beckinsale of Van Helsing) is out to kill him. Together with new/old girlfriend Melina (Jessica Biel) he struggles to not only stay alive but complete his mission and save thousands of lives. Total Recall is fast-paced and has impressive FX and scenic design, but the characters are paper-thin, and it turns into a fairly standard, un-involving mindless action flick long before it's over. Farrel, Biel and Beckinsale all register the proper attitude and butchness, however.

Verdict: Okay if you have low expectations. **1/2.