look ! the new version of " psycho " came out and the world didn't end ! i guess gus van sant really isn't the bringer of the apocalypse ! unfortunately , though , that " psycho " didn't end the world as we know is the best thing that can be said for it . van sant's controversial " re-telling " of alfred hitchcock's classic 1960 film has polarized filmgoers everywhere ( even before it premiered . ) without benefit of an actual viewing , many have said that the film will , at best , suck . being an ( almost ) good critic , i waited until i actually saw it to decide that the film , at best , sucked ( and that concludes the use of the word " suck " and , hopefully , the thoughts that i am a brain-dead orangutan . ) director gus van sant took the original hitchcock film and refilmed it , shot-for-shot , using the same , exact script ( with a few minor alterations . ) the inherent challenge was in making the film suspenseful and scary , even though a large group of the audience will know exactly what will happen at the exact time . suspense probably could have been attained if the actors had been able to create something new or different than the original . sadly , that did not occur . it is hard to be overshadowed by vera miles and john gavin ( from the original " psycho ) , but that is what exactly happened to julianne moore and viggo mortensen . in moore's case , the film would have been helped if " the x- files " gillian anderson had been cast instead ; especially since moore goes through the entire film doing a scully impression ! from the cold demeanor and expressions to her rigid way of forming a sentence , moore is scully ! mortensen ( who i liked in " g . i . jane " ) opts to play sam loomis as a cowboy/hick , which would have been nice if he had gone past that starting point . sam has a twang and a cowboy hat , but that's about it . mortensen turns in one of the most uptight performance in recent memory . anne heche , in the janet leigh role , does a few good things in her brief time on screen . at least her marion crane has a little life in her , which can't be said for most of the rest of the cast . the best work , though , comes from vince vaughn , as the demented mama's boy , norman bates . he's not going to make anyone forget anthony perkins , but he is effective both in being naughty and nice . the best part of the film is the dinner scene heche and vaughn , where they simply talk . there is some solid acting there , something that is not carried through the rest of the film . van sant has made a boring film . all the camera tricks that hitchcock so eloquently used in 1960 aren't as eye-catching now . what passed for brilliance then has been copied so many times by so many directors that they don't impress or excite . van sant , in what i assume is a grasp at originality , decided to put some stream-of-consciousness images into a few famous scenes ( was that a lamb in the middle of the road ? ) these images , included with some questionable editing choices , took away from the scenes themselves and caused , at first , bewilderment and , later , laughter . definitely not hitchcock's intention ! at least danny elfman had the good sense to not mess with bernard herrmann's original famous and terrific score . if a film like " psycho " does not frighten , then what's the point . aside from norman , the characters are thinly drawn people who leave no connection with the audience . there are things van sant and company could have done to at least make their recreation interesting . in the end , however , the new " psycho " is a noble attempt , but , alas , a dismal failure .
