PSYCHO (26)

Directed by: Gus Van Sant

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy

The Pitch: Norman Bates. Again.

Theo Sez: Don't look now, but I've obviously missed the point of this copycat remake. Is it a Pop Art jape, deliberately setting out to create a pointless-yet-meticulous artefact? But it's not an exact copy, merely an approximate one. Is it a coded statement on outsiders in a 'normal' (conspicuously heterosexual) world? But why emphasise fidelity to the original if you're re-inventing (and why bother with a remake in the first place if you're not)? Is it a deconstruction of narrative film-making, showing how you can copy a film slavishly and still end up with a wholly different experience? But it's not surprising that it should feel different to the original, identical structure or not, when the attitudes have been crudely updated : Janet Leigh's reaction to "A boy's best friend is his mother" was to drop her gaze politely, as at a sentiment she knows is perfectly respectable even if she doesn't quite agree with it, but Heche kind of rolls her eyes as if to say "Oh boy, weirdo alert!". It makes a nonsense of their relationship and, even worse, points up the anachronisms, making the whole thing appear a little quaint - robbed of its square-jawed, moralistic 50s ambience it's just a slow-moving, rather absurd tale of a very obvious psycho : note, for example, the way everyone's always supplying 'rational' explanations (Arbogast's gone after the money, Marion's paying Norman to hide her) for what's going on, which made sense in a context where the truth was literally unimaginable but just looks stupid in a film so infused with 90s knowingness. The big scenes work, and there's incidental fun in wondering whether the main innovation can be put down to a pun on "Master Bates" ; but it's mostly just incredibly dull, a warmed-over stew of no particular interest. If Erik Gregersen is reading this, could he please post something on his website explaining what on earth he found to enthuse about? Much thanks.