Unlike the HBO movie, which depicted the artist almost only as a lecherous sadist torturing actress Tippi Hedren, Gervasi’s picture chooses to cast Hitchcock’s talent and idiosyncrasies in a humorous and broadly entertaining light. The film still touches on the director’s fascination with blonde leading ladies, but the movie remains more of a lighthearted character study of how his mind worked and its impact on his long overlooked wife, Alma Reville. Based in part on the non-fiction book, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello, the movie is content at being a wry portrait of the filmmaker during the height of his creativity and not a two hour summation of the man’s life. The film is a breezy 90 minutes of self-aware bemusement. Hopkins brings a dry wit to his jovial interpretation of the famed moviemaker. His Hitchcock is every bit as eccentric as the man is publicly remembered to be, but it’s presented here as the harmless side effect of genius. If his eye wanders to his leading ladies, it is a fanciful silliness that can be scoffed at by Alma. Even so, the character insists he is capable of the darkness he visually wallows in. “Any man can become a murderer,” he tells his wife as she takes away the pudding he is indulging in. “And have good reason.”  Helen Mirren is equally devious and entertaining as Alma. Being the wife who is often taken for granted by her blonde-obsessed husband, she finds herself drifting further than usual from her husband in the story and flirting with a possible affair. However, given the film’s tone and other creative flourishes, one wonders how truthful this subplot can be or if Alma ever really looked like Helen Mirren. However, the problem the movie faces is that most of the drama feels just as concocted for the narrative. While Hitchcock really did have to struggle to get Psycho made, the movie treats the trouble almost as a formality. He wants to kill off his leading lady in the first 30 minutes! Isn’t it funny how the Paramount executives overreact to the whacky idea? The biggest conflict of the story, Alma’s potential affair, hardly feels unpredictable. In a film about the Master of Suspense, the lack of suspense is a shame. Still, the movie knows that the performances of Hopkins and Mirren are the focal points. And when the two exchange barbs, the movie shines. Another standout in the cast is Scarlett Johansson as the Psycho’s water-soaked star, Janet Leigh. Always poised and smiling, Johansson has fun evoking that movie star charisma of yesteryear and plays Leigh as amused by Hitchcock’s cheeky eccentricities. When hearing horror stories about his possessiveness from cast mate Vera Miles (Jessica Biel), Leigh shrugs and says, “He’s a sweetheart.” Then again, perhaps most men are when you’re married to Tony Curtis? James D’Arcy is also very good at finding the awkward discomfort of film legend Anthony Perkins.  Unfortunately, he is barely in the movie. Grade:  B