Memorable, crazy movie

Boring

A lot of fun.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Alfred Hitchcock (Toby Jones) is looking for a blonde to play his next victim in 'The Birds'. His wife Alma (Imelda Staunton) sees Tippi Hedren (Sienna Miller) on a TV commercial. Tippi is a little known model when Hitchcock thrust her into super stardom. Hitchcock is a drunk and obsessed with the blonde Tippi. He sexually pursues her and abuses her in the infamous 5-day attic shoot using live birds to attack her. He continues to stalk her, and forces her to strip in one of the scenes in his next movie 'Marnie'.Toby Jones is proving a master mimic once again. He is convincing as Hitchcock. Sienna Miller is a little too sexual for the more virginal idealized character of Tippi Hedren. Tippi indicates that she had fought off plenty of leaches during her modeling days. It would be nice to have that scene in the beginning. Generally, the subject matter may have been intense, but it didn't translate onto the screen. They needed to build the tension up. Instead Hitchcock was creepy from the start. It'd be better to start from a happier place. As for the truth behind the story, I'm unwilling to judge on that matter unlike many other reviewers here. Tippi seems to like it although the climax is really hard to swallow.

Wow! Is that really what happened? In many biographies about Alfred Hitchcock, the most Tippi Hedren ever said about the incident when Alfred Hitchcock supposedly propositioned her was, "Demands were made of me that I could not acquiesce to." But in "The Girl", Toby Jones' Hitchcock puts it right out there when he says to Sienna Miller's Tippi Hedren, "From now on, I want you to make yourself sexually available to me at all times. Whatever I want you to do, whenever I want you to do it." Possibly it happened that way, Tippi Hedren seems to have been consulted by the filmmakers. My feeling is that where there was that much smoke there had to be fire, but just how fair is "The Girl"?The movie is nothing less than interesting. Toby Jones is amazing, and Sienna Miller more than holds her own, but opinion over the film is divided. On one side are those outraged that Hitchcock's reputation has been besmirched without a chance to defend himself, while on the other are those outraged at what Hitchcock appears to have done to Tippi Hedren."The Girl" relates how Alfred Hitchcock groomed the inexperienced Hedren to star in "The Birds" and "Marnie". During the process, Hitchcock changed from mentor to monster becoming totally obsessed with her. Eventually he made an overt sexual advance. She refused and that was the end of the relationship.One scene in "The Girl" does undermine it. It's the somewhat salacious screen test where Hitchcock asks Hedren to give Martin Balsam a long lingering kiss. Unfortunately for the makers of "The Girl", the actual test clip is fairly well known from documentaries and YouTube, and is a lot less threatening than the recreation. In reality, Balsam and Hedren actually seem quite comfortable with each other. It was silly to overdo a scene that is so accessible; it leaves you wondering how much over-egging went on with the rest of the custard.The difference between Hedren and Hitchcock's other leading ladies was that they were better able to handle him. Most were established stars, surrounded by husbands, boyfriends and agents, but Hedren didn't have all that; she was just starting out and was far more vulnerable.According to some sources, it was about this time that Hitchcock's judgement also seemed to be slipping. The suppressed voyeuristic tendencies and fantasies that helped inform his great films were taking on a harder edge. He now wanted to be explicit in what he showed.Up until then, the Motion Picture Production Code kept him in check. Would films like "Rear Window", "Vertigo" or even "Psycho" be the enduring classics they are today if Hitchcock had been allowed to go all the way? The censor made him innovative and subtle. However, by the late 60's the Code was gone. No one ever ranks 1972's "Frenzy" among his greatest movies; plenty of rape and nudity on display there. Fortunately he never made "Kaleidoscope"; with what he had planned, it could have been a real legend killer.As far as "The Girl" is concerned, maybe it's best to just enjoy the show. Toby Jones' Hitchcock is even better than his Truman Capote, genius really, the voice is perfect, and Sienna Miller is so beautiful that you can believe that a fat, old auteur could harbour a fantasy or two about her. But maybe the last words on the subject could be the classic line Hitchcock once directed at an actor who was getting a bit too worked up about things, "Don't worry, it's only a movie".

I cannot stop asking myself whether this is a documentary or a movie. I've checked the IMDb page again and it says "movie". So, I wonder why everybody here wrote criticism about the storyline being fictional. Man?? This is a movie, not a documentary. I do not care about it being fictional, or Mr.Hitchcock's sexual abuses, or the skills of Hedren, or Hedren's sexual preferences or Hitchcock's being gay or whatsoever, period. "The Girl" is a pretty nice movie with pretty good acting. That's it. If you want to criticize about Hitchcock's real personality, IMDb.com's movie reviews is not the right place and "The Girl" is not a documentary.

I has some trepidation about seeing The Girl because I will admit up front that I'm a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock's work. Being an admirer of his work and talent I have read up through the years about facets of his career and am well aware of his often documented penchant for blond bombshells. I was a bit taken aback when hearing about a film being made detailing the horrible treatment Tippi Hedren endured at the hands of the Master Of Suspense. In interviews and recollections Hedren mentioned that making The Birds and Marnie was not easy but I don't recall ever hearing her mention how brutal her experiences were....until now. Putting all that aside, The Girl turns out to be a limp and sloppy drama hell bent on painting Hitch in a relentlesly terrible light. A genuine portrayal would have at least shown a fully fleshed albeit complicated character. Here Toby Jones (who has the director's voice and mannerism down pat) plays Hitchcock as a one note pathetic pervert. This is not entirely his fault. The pedestrian screenplay doesn't t give the actor much more to go on. Hedren herself claimed that though there was a lot of difficulty there were times between the two artists which were positive. The film showcases those moments in one or two very brief scenes which feel forced and rushed instead choosing to spend the bulk of the film's 90 minutes on the more salacious alleged details. Sienna Miller fairs decently as Tippi Hedren....unlike Hitch she's given a bit more dimension though the story is clearly slanted in her direction. The supporting cast is able even without being given much to do. The direction is banal and the attempt to make the film a glossy drama all but fails. Unable to succeed as a proper character study it could have at least been an interesting look at the film making process. Not so much. The scenes involving the filming of both The Birds and Marnie are at best generic and to movie buffs like myself also lacking in correct detail (no attempt is made to make the film lot look remotely like Universal Studios with a ridiculous brick building standing in as a sound stage no less!) The Girl could have been a compelling and complex look at the psychological motivation of a film maker's "obsession". Instead, much like Mommie Dearest, it's a tasteless, unfair assault on a celebrity who can no longer defend himself.