Hyde Park on Hudson

It’s nice that one of our nearby theater choices is a bit artsy and yet still shows mainstream movies. This leads to a greater opportunity to see a trailer for a movie we might otherwise miss. I think it was when we went to Lincoln that we saw the previews for Hitchcock and Hyde Park on Hudson.

My knowledge of FDR is pretty much restricted to what I was taught in 11th grade history. Or, really, what I remember from of that. In particular, I had no knowledge of the historic events covered in this film. Those events — specifically the first visit US visit by a British monarch — are only the setting for the real story of the movie, which was apparently a fairly well kept secret for many decades.

I found the movie to be interesting and entertaining, if a bit forgettable. I particularly enjoyed Bill Murray’s portrayal of FDR. It was also nice to see Laura Linney in a leading role.

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Hitchcock

I really had no idea what to expect from Hitchcock. My familiarity with Alfred Hitchcock wasn’t very extensive. I’d seen several of his movies, though by no means all, and I do recall seeing episodes of his TV show when I was a kid (in repeats, of course). But my knowledge was, at best, of the pop-culture type — ’80s pop-culture.

What drew me to the movie was simply its two stars, Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren. I’ll confess that having Scarlett Johansson didn’t hurt — she’s one of the actresses that draws me to movies for reasons both trite and subtle.

In my MoviePass log, I marked this as “Extra” (as opposed to “Personal” or “Family”), which means that I very likely wouldn’t have seen it were it not for my MoviePass subscription. I track this so that I can see how much value I’m getting from my membership.

(Speaking of which, two months in, and with an anticipated $10 non-Extra movie on tonight’s agenda, I’ve saved $43.77 and seen an additional $36 worth of Extra movies.)

Getting back to the point, I enjoyed the movie and am glad to have seen it. My only complaint is that there wasn’t a Hitchcock-esque twist. The wink-and-a-nudge-to-the-audience was fun but didn’t quite make up for the lack of suspense. At least it didn’t commit the sin of failing to have a perfect ending that I specifically anticipated. In this case, I have no idea how the appropriate suspense could have been achieved, I just wish the writer had done so.

All-in-all, I’d say it’s worth seeing if you have any sort of affinity for the subject matter (including Psycho) or the actors.