Manhunter
1/4
Starring: William Peterson, Dennis Farina, Brian Cox, Tom Noonan, Joan Allen, Kim Griest
Rated R for Strong Violence, Disturbing Subject Matter and a Scene of Sexuality (I guess)
Watching "Manhunter" is shocking. Not just what's going on in the story (and as told by Michael Mann, it's trite and superficial), but what isn't there. The main character, Hannibal Lecktor (as it was spelled in this misbegotten adaptation), is only on screen for two scenes, and is essentially ignored. I know, I know, this was made well before "The Silence of the Lambs" (five years in fact), but Mann should have known what a unique character he had on his hands and focused more on him. Alas, he presents this unique story as a depressingly generic serial killer movie.
Will Graham (Peterson) was the FBI's best criminal profiler until a traumatic experience caused him to retire. Now a serial killer dubbed "The Tooth Fairy" (he leaves bite impressions at the crime scenes) has already murdered two whole families, each on the night of the full moon. As the amount of time before The Tooth Fairy strikes again dwindles, Graham's old boss, Jack Crawford (Farina), persuades him to look over the evidence to figure out what they overlooked. Needless to say, Graham gets completely pulled back into the case, even going so far as to see the man who caused him to retire, the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Cox).
"The Silence of the Lambs" was a demented psychological thriller that took us into the darkest corners of the human mind. It's follow up, "Hannibal," was a geek show, but it had its moments. "Manhunter," on the other hand, is a waste of time. The story isn't interesting (at least how its presented here), the characters range from dull to absurd (with one exception), and the film has no sense of atmosphere. The score in particular is crap; the film suffers from "They Live" syndrome, where would-be tense scenes are matched with the most inappropriate music (in this case, it's bad 80's music). Instead of getting the nape hairs on end, the film becomes a complete joke.
I feel bad for the cast members. William Peterson is a good character actor, and he does good work. The problem is that the character is horribly written. Instead of seeming like a person who gets inside the heads of the killers he's targeting, Graham is written like a guy with ESP. It's impossible to take his character that seriously because of how he's written. Dennis Farina is good as Jack Crawford, but he's given nothing to do other than to play a sounding board to Graham. Tom Noonan is only creepy when he doesn't talk. Brian Cox is effective, but pales in comparison to Anthony Hopkins. To be fair, Cox did it first. He plays Lecktor as a goading bully, which is different to say the least. The lone exception is Joan Allen, who plays Reba, the kind blind woman who forms a tentative relationship with Franchis Dolarhyde (aka the Tooth Fairy).
Michael Mann is a good director. He's made some truly great films ("Heat," "The Insider,") and some bad ones ("Miami Vice," "Public Enemies"), but this is the worst. His talents are so far away from what is required for this movie that it's surprising that he didn't stop himself before he botched it. The film looks like a commercial and there are times when it gets almost sci-fi ish.
There is good news, however. There is a much better version of the same story. It's called "Red Dragon" (the original title of the book...it was changed by producer Dino de Laurentiis after the bad box office reception of "Year of the Dragon"). It's creepy, it's better scripted (by "The Silence of the Lambs" adapter Ted Tally), and better told by director Brett Ratner. And it has Hopkins.
I think that says enough.
Starring: William Peterson, Dennis Farina, Brian Cox, Tom Noonan, Joan Allen, Kim Griest
Rated R for Strong Violence, Disturbing Subject Matter and a Scene of Sexuality (I guess)
Watching "Manhunter" is shocking. Not just what's going on in the story (and as told by Michael Mann, it's trite and superficial), but what isn't there. The main character, Hannibal Lecktor (as it was spelled in this misbegotten adaptation), is only on screen for two scenes, and is essentially ignored. I know, I know, this was made well before "The Silence of the Lambs" (five years in fact), but Mann should have known what a unique character he had on his hands and focused more on him. Alas, he presents this unique story as a depressingly generic serial killer movie.
Will Graham (Peterson) was the FBI's best criminal profiler until a traumatic experience caused him to retire. Now a serial killer dubbed "The Tooth Fairy" (he leaves bite impressions at the crime scenes) has already murdered two whole families, each on the night of the full moon. As the amount of time before The Tooth Fairy strikes again dwindles, Graham's old boss, Jack Crawford (Farina), persuades him to look over the evidence to figure out what they overlooked. Needless to say, Graham gets completely pulled back into the case, even going so far as to see the man who caused him to retire, the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Cox).
"The Silence of the Lambs" was a demented psychological thriller that took us into the darkest corners of the human mind. It's follow up, "Hannibal," was a geek show, but it had its moments. "Manhunter," on the other hand, is a waste of time. The story isn't interesting (at least how its presented here), the characters range from dull to absurd (with one exception), and the film has no sense of atmosphere. The score in particular is crap; the film suffers from "They Live" syndrome, where would-be tense scenes are matched with the most inappropriate music (in this case, it's bad 80's music). Instead of getting the nape hairs on end, the film becomes a complete joke.
I feel bad for the cast members. William Peterson is a good character actor, and he does good work. The problem is that the character is horribly written. Instead of seeming like a person who gets inside the heads of the killers he's targeting, Graham is written like a guy with ESP. It's impossible to take his character that seriously because of how he's written. Dennis Farina is good as Jack Crawford, but he's given nothing to do other than to play a sounding board to Graham. Tom Noonan is only creepy when he doesn't talk. Brian Cox is effective, but pales in comparison to Anthony Hopkins. To be fair, Cox did it first. He plays Lecktor as a goading bully, which is different to say the least. The lone exception is Joan Allen, who plays Reba, the kind blind woman who forms a tentative relationship with Franchis Dolarhyde (aka the Tooth Fairy).
Michael Mann is a good director. He's made some truly great films ("Heat," "The Insider,") and some bad ones ("Miami Vice," "Public Enemies"), but this is the worst. His talents are so far away from what is required for this movie that it's surprising that he didn't stop himself before he botched it. The film looks like a commercial and there are times when it gets almost sci-fi ish.
There is good news, however. There is a much better version of the same story. It's called "Red Dragon" (the original title of the book...it was changed by producer Dino de Laurentiis after the bad box office reception of "Year of the Dragon"). It's creepy, it's better scripted (by "The Silence of the Lambs" adapter Ted Tally), and better told by director Brett Ratner. And it has Hopkins.
I think that says enough.
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