First, may I preface my review with the information that I studied the original film in college and have seen it several dozen times - each time I learned/still learn something new. The original "Psycho" is one of the greatest films ever made, because of its subtle direction and usage of light/shadow that can only be produced in black & white. Since this remake is a theoretical shot-by-shot remake, I will anatomize it in my review and their may be some spoilers for those who have yet to see this must-see film. If you are an aspiring filmmaker, this is a must-own and see several times type of film - the original film presents a great tutorial for direction, production, acting, lighting design and most of all, cinematography. There can only be one master... and his name is Hitch.
Well, now I have seen this... in full frame on STARZ on my 61" TV. I fell into it late tonight strictly by accident, just missing the opening credits and hotel scene. I joined in during the bank scene where Marion talks with the eccentric millionaire client, excellently portrayed by Chad Everett. In fact, all of the movie up until she meets Norman Bates was dead on... Anne Heche was almost perfect with the body language, movement, posture, gestures, facial expressions imitating Janet Leigh. I say "almost" because without b/w photography, it's just not fair as the light/shadow contrast on her face in the second car (especially) driving at night in the rain towards her final destination was missing, leaving her facial expressions nearly there. The Highway Patrolman was perfectly cast and shot and Anne Heche with her movements being startled awake was a dead ringer for Janet Leigh's performance. However, in those in-car driver scenes, her facial/eye expressions paled to the late Miss Leigh's dramatically, but it was a good attempt. The used car salesman was not as good, but still fairly, simply acted. For the first part of the movie, everything clicked... all the casting, original scored music, cinematography was good, but once Marion made it to the Bates Motel it all went downhill. Vaughn proved he is quite talented and gave an admirable job of acting, but at first came off too stable/normal, in control of himself, too macho/strong. Later, in the movie, he seemed to slip more into a mousy character and even stutter more (where was all the stutter in the parlor scene?), but it was too little, too late... the believability was gone. The parlor scenes didn't come off right... Norman just did not look like he was messed up in the head as he did in the original - the significant stuttering over the word "falsity" was gone as was the EXTREMELY poignant gesture of the hand being affectionately placed on the stuffed bird while stating "actually, it's more than a hobby." The peeping/masturbation scene was icky and an unnecessary modification to the original just plain peeping scene. The shower scene was very good, though and the petrified body of Marion was convincingly made to appear dead - kudos to Miss Heche. King of recent remakes, Viggo Moretnsen just did not have Sam's overpowering, calming, rock-steady macho presence as was portrayed in the original. Julianne Moore just did not have it at all... she is NO Vera Miles - there was little, if any emotional depth. William H. Macy was very good as Arbogast and brought back slightly more believability to the film's scene he was in. His superb acting juxtaposed Vince Vaughn's into being much better than earlier appearances, so does that mean Heche lacked as an actress? No - it means he was either less prepared, not yet fully established into the role or the direction. The biggest thing missing was the very human performances.
The ending/final credits were really awful... did not even come close to the original.
I give this 5 out of 10 stars for the first half of the film which was 9/10 stars (a near remake masterpiece, except for Vaughn), but the second half got only one star and that went for Macy's portrayal and Vaughn's uneven performance... the rest was just pure junk.
Well, now I have seen this... in full frame on STARZ on my 61" TV. I fell into it late tonight strictly by accident, just missing the opening credits and hotel scene. I joined in during the bank scene where Marion talks with the eccentric millionaire client, excellently portrayed by Chad Everett. In fact, all of the movie up until she meets Norman Bates was dead on... Anne Heche was almost perfect with the body language, movement, posture, gestures, facial expressions imitating Janet Leigh. I say "almost" because without b/w photography, it's just not fair as the light/shadow contrast on her face in the second car (especially) driving at night in the rain towards her final destination was missing, leaving her facial expressions nearly there. The Highway Patrolman was perfectly cast and shot and Anne Heche with her movements being startled awake was a dead ringer for Janet Leigh's performance. However, in those in-car driver scenes, her facial/eye expressions paled to the late Miss Leigh's dramatically, but it was a good attempt. The used car salesman was not as good, but still fairly, simply acted. For the first part of the movie, everything clicked... all the casting, original scored music, cinematography was good, but once Marion made it to the Bates Motel it all went downhill. Vaughn proved he is quite talented and gave an admirable job of acting, but at first came off too stable/normal, in control of himself, too macho/strong. Later, in the movie, he seemed to slip more into a mousy character and even stutter more (where was all the stutter in the parlor scene?), but it was too little, too late... the believability was gone. The parlor scenes didn't come off right... Norman just did not look like he was messed up in the head as he did in the original - the significant stuttering over the word "falsity" was gone as was the EXTREMELY poignant gesture of the hand being affectionately placed on the stuffed bird while stating "actually, it's more than a hobby." The peeping/masturbation scene was icky and an unnecessary modification to the original just plain peeping scene. The shower scene was very good, though and the petrified body of Marion was convincingly made to appear dead - kudos to Miss Heche. King of recent remakes, Viggo Moretnsen just did not have Sam's overpowering, calming, rock-steady macho presence as was portrayed in the original. Julianne Moore just did not have it at all... she is NO Vera Miles - there was little, if any emotional depth. William H. Macy was very good as Arbogast and brought back slightly more believability to the film's scene he was in. His superb acting juxtaposed Vince Vaughn's into being much better than earlier appearances, so does that mean Heche lacked as an actress? No - it means he was either less prepared, not yet fully established into the role or the direction. The biggest thing missing was the very human performances.
The ending/final credits were really awful... did not even come close to the original.
I give this 5 out of 10 stars for the first half of the film which was 9/10 stars (a near remake masterpiece, except for Vaughn), but the second half got only one star and that went for Macy's portrayal and Vaughn's uneven performance... the rest was just pure junk.