PSYCHO RATING: 6 / 10 --> Barely recommendable
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Thirty-eight years after the original release of Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller PSYCHO, director Gus Van Sant, best known for his Oscar nominated film GOOD WILL HUNTING (7.5/10), takes on the task of recreating an exact "replica" of the film, with up-to-date actors, color film stock instead of black & white, and a few minor changes.
PLOT: Marion Crane decides to rob $400,000 from her employer in order to help her lover get out of debt. She leaves town, but unexpectedly gets caught in a rainstorm, and must stop off at the Bates Motel for a night. This is where she meets Norman Bates, the owner of said establishment. Norman operates the motel and takes care of his ill mother. They talk and eat, after which she goes off to take a shower. Thrilling moments ensue, as a private detective, Marion's lover and sister all get involved in a mystery.
CRITIQUE: Slow, well-manufactured film with solid performances by its leads, doesn't have enough tension to be qualified a real thriller, and basically makes you question its remake in the first place. This film has some good moments, many long-winded scenes, an excellent eye for style and great performances by actors who basically had to recreate characters that were considered historical in the eyes of many movie-goers. The one actor who stood out from the pack was definitely the rising star of the year, Vince Vaughn, who took Anthony Perkins' superb original performance, and added his own macabre touch of surrealism.
The directing of this film was basically a "shot-for-shot" remake of the original, and therein, remained extremely stylish and original, in classic Hitchcock style. Van Sant did take some initiative in regards to little changes here and there, but on the whole, the film still played like it could have been set in the 50's or 60's. Having said that, the film's main peg of disinterest for me was its slow pace and even slower build-up. I guess I have just gotten used to the greater quantity of thrills in the thrillers of nowaday, and just didn't appreciate the snails pace build-up of this story in respect to its end result.
Having said that, this film might be better appreciated by those who never saw the original, since they would not be privy to the film's basic story line and twist, allowing for a greater interest in the mystery of the whole thing. All in all, the film does offer some great performances by its actors, with Vaughn offering another standout performance, some stylish cinematography, but ultimately runs at too slow a pace, without offering enough real thrills, to keep me interested. I think my good friend The Arrow said it best when he turned to me at the end of this film and said "Unnecessary. Why not re-release the original instead of this?" No real improvement, no real surprises, just a recreation of a film that played very well in its original state in the 60's, but suffers somewhat in its imitation form of the 90's.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: This new PSYCHO was shot at the same studio as the original and used the same compressed six-week schedule. The film cost $20 million compared to the $800,000 that Hitchcock spent on the original in 1960. Director Gus Van Sant also makes a cameo in the film during the same scene that Hitchcock himself made an appearance over 30 years ago. He also thanks fellow director John Woo for the use of his "kitchen knife" in the end credits of this film, and was one of the executive producers on the 1995 film KIDS (8/10). Nicole Kidman turned down the role that eventually went to Anne Heche in this picture. The bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea, makes an appearance in this film as Viggo Mortensen's co-worker. He also played a part in Gus Van Sant's classic pic MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (7.5/10), which starred Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix, and rode in the ambulance alongside River, on the night that he died from a drug overdose. His real name is Michael Balzary, and he was born in Australia. Vince Vaughn stands 6"5. When asked about the last time that he cried, Vince offered this little anecdote: "When I was a small, small child, Elvis was passing through Evanston, getting a hamburger. And he bought me and my mama one. And he said, "Son, you've got a twinkle in your eye, don't let anybody tell you that you can't do this. And that was the last time I cried." Vaughn's big break came when he appeared in a nationally televised Chevrolet commercial in 1989. Steven Spielberg was impressed with Vaughn's performance in SWINGERS (8.5/10), after he saw a tape of the film when the film's producers approached him about the possibility of using the theme music from JAWS (7.5/10) for a scene in which Vaughn's Trent cozies up to an unsuspecting young woman at a party. Spielberg liked him enough to cast him in the monster hit THE LOST WORLD (7/10). Julianne Moore's real name is Julie Anne Smith. Actress Rita Wilson, who plays the other secretary in this film, is Tom Hanks' wife in real life.
Review Date: December 5, 1998
Director: Gus Van Sant
Writer: Joseph Stephano (based on a novel by Robert Bloch)
Producers: Gus Van Sant and Brian Grazer
Actors: Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates
Anne Heche as Marion Crane
Julianne Moore as Lila Crane
Viggo Mortensen as Sam Loomis
William H. Macy as Milton Arbogast
Genre: Thriller
Year of Release: 1998
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(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
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