Many films are called "Hitchcockian", usually because they merely have a twisty, psychologically-motivated plot. But Jonathon Demme's 'Last Embrace' is far more than that, as much a piece of homage as Peter Jackson's recent 'King Kong' remake was to its predecessor. The natures of the characters, and the style of acting, dialogue and music all resemble Hitchcock's own work. A number of elements even pay more direct tribute: there's a shower scene (a la 'Psycho', albeit less bloody), while the scene in the tower, and the ambiguous heroine who isn't what she seems, bring 'Vertigo' to mind. The ending, in fact, resembles aspects of both the start and end of that latter film, while the use of an American landmark (the Niagra Falls) also recalls the use of Mount Rushmore to similar effect in the conclusion of 'North by Northwest'. But for those of us who don't in fact adore Hitchcock, and who find his movies stiff, badly acted and contrived, is a carbon copy such a welcome thought? In fact, Demme, a director I often think of as clunky, proves himself well up to the art of sympathetic pastiche, and I actually found this movie a little more engrossing than many of Hitchcock's own, although the plot is still holey and the overall feeling is that of an early 1960s movie, unusually well done, rather than a real late 1970s film. You'll probably enjoy it if you're more partial to Hitchcock than I am.
Review of Last Embrace
