ShockYa: A well-meaning but rather inert borderland drama about a single Texas mother who, while in the process of trying to reunite with her son, becomes entangled with a young would-be illegal immigrant, “The Girl” is a decent showcase for the Australian-born Abbie Cornish, which explains its limited, awards-qualifying run in advance of its wider, March 2013 theatrical release. Still, the film is too limited in scope and predictable to transcend its social-issue movie-of-the-week roots as a tear-jerker designed to play on the feelings of particularly maternal independent film fans.
James Jay Edwards of FilmFracture:
"In the wake of the release of Fox Searchlight’s long anticipated Alfred Hitchcock biopic, appropriately called "Hitchcock", a different production about the master of suspense has flown under the radar. Home Box Office, in conjunction with the British Broadcasting Corporation, has made their own Hitchcock film, "The Girl", which focuses on a darker side of the influential director."
Collider:
A new full trailer for the HBO film The Girl has landed online. The pic examines legendary director Alfred Hitchcock’s (Toby Jones) obsession with his The Birds actress Tippi Hedren (Sienna Miller). We previously were treated to an amusing teaser for the film, but this full trailer is downright creepy in the way Hitchcock’s brooding fixation with Hedren is portrayed. It looks like we’re going to see plenty of scenes that take place on the Birds set, as well as a strong performance from Miller. I can’t yet tell if Jones’ performance as Hitchcock is the appropriate amount of creepy or just plain weird, but I’m eager to catch the full film when it premieres on HBO.
THR Live Feed:
"I have to say that when I first heard Toby's [Jones] voice as Alfred Hitchcock, my body just froze," Tippi Hedren told reporters at the TCA press tour earlier this month; with the release of this first narrated preview of HBO's The Girl, Hedren's shock is now quite understandable.
With an October premiere date fast approaching, the marketing campaign for HBO's telefilm was kicked off in earnest with a 30 second clip that teases Jones' grasp on the legendary director and his obsession with Hedren, his one-time muse and star.
Abbie Cornish is so fine.