PSYCHO

When word got around that Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant was planning to film a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 classic chillier Psycho, using the same shooting script by Joseph Stefano (including every line of dialogue) and all of Hitchcock's stage directions, but photographing the film in color instead of the black-and-white that made the earlier movie so effective, the response was generally "If it ain't broke, don't fix it! "

Despite the unpopular response from both critics and filmgoers alike, Van Sant went ahead and made the Psycho remake anyway. It was released at the end of 1998 and was universally panned in reviews. Hitchcock's film had received several Oscar nominations, but the Academy certainly did not honor Van Sant's film with the movie world's most coveted award!

Although it is definitely inferior to the 1960 version, Psycho 98 is still worth watching. The main problem with the movie is that by keeping the old- fashioned dialogue but setting the story in present day dates the film terribly. Hitchcock made the infamous shower scene one of the memorable movie images in cinema history, but here it is just plain laughable.

Marion Crane (Anne Heche) is an attractive, intelligent and struggling secretary at a real estate agency in Phoenix, Arizona. One afternoon she takes an extended lunch break to spend an afternoon of passion with her lover Sam Loomis (Viggo Mortensen), who has flown in from Fairdale to see her.

The opening scene of the film is possibly its most memorable moment. Heche and Mortensen are lying on the bed in a seedy hotel. She is attempting to dress and return to work, he remains naked and tries to persuade her to stay a little longer. The two of them discuss money problems (Sam's ex-wife still demands alimony payments and he is still paying debts that belonged to his late father). Therefore, the idea of the two lovers marrying is out of the question. The chemistry between Heche and Mortensen is nicely subtle, the audience believes that their characters are deeply in love, but money is what they need to be truly happy together.

Later that day, Sam has flown back to Fairdale and Marion returns to work. She is entrusted with the huge total of $400,000 which is entrusted to her to put in the bank. Against her better judgment, Marion packs her suitcase and sets off in her car to Fairdale, with the money in her purse - and stops off on the way at the infamous Bates Motel, where she meets the less-than normal manager Norman Bates (Vince Vaughn)...

I am sure it is not at all necessary for me to divulge what happens next, as most movie lovers are more than clued up on what happens to Marion. If not, perhaps the movie's tagine will jog your memory - "Check in. Relax. Take a shower'...?!

It's hard to imagine another actor portraying Norman Bates - Anthony Perkins was unforgettable in the original, and Vince Vaughn is too charismatic to be truly chilling. Marion Crane was the best role of Janet Leigh's career, but the same cannot be said for Anne Heche, who seems to be rather bemused the whole time in this film, which does not evoke audience sympathy for her character.

The only thing to Van Sant's credit is that he breathed life into the lesser roles of Marion's sister Lila and her boyfriend Sam. Vera Miles was given nothing to do but look dainty in the original - here she is played by Julianne Moore as a no-nonsense city gal, with one hell of an attitude.

Then you have Viggo Mortensen as Sam. From the opening scene, Mortensen manages to make the viewer like Sam immediately, as we gather that he is still responsible financially for an ex-spouse and been burdened with money matters by his own dead dad! It is to Viggo's credit that he manages to make Sam less than honorable, as he comes on to his own girlfriend's sister while the two of them are unsure whether she's dead or alive! Sam Loomis is hardly Viggo's greatest role, but it is one of his most memorable supporting roles in recent years. He and Julianne Moore are reason enough to see this film.

TRIVIA: Also in 1998, Viggo appeared in another big screen remake of an Alfred Hitchcock film, Andrew Davis' A Perfect Murder. Coincidentally, in both films he plays the lover of the female protagonist (both of whom are blonde!), with whom he appears naked in the film's opening scenes and the story lines of the two films both involve a cash amount of $400,000!