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Regrettably faithful adaptation of Thomas Harris' horror novel (up until the end) is little more than glossy, well-acted torture porn, and as such set the tone for later films like Saw and Hostel. After a drug bust goes sour, FBI Agent Clarice Starling (here played by Julianne Moore -- both director Jonathan Demme and actress Jodie Foster begged off this sequel to The Silence of the Lambs) is relegated to working the dormant Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter case, but catches a break when a severely disfigured Lecter survivor's offer of a reward for information on Lecter's whereabouts rousts him out of hiding in Florence. Which is too bad, really, as the film's most engaging performance is given by Giancarlo Giannini as an Italian cop who just can't say no to three million dollars. Starling comes off slightly better here than in the novel, though that isn't saying much: with her bizarre little-girl attraction to Lecter, she still makes sexist hiring practices seem like a good idea. (Where's Will Graham when you need him?) Both gross and grotesque, with face-eating dogs, flesh-eating pigs, and a brain-eating cannibal -- and "humor" that equates Lecter's enemies with Judas and Lecter himself with Christ.
Regrettably faithful adaptation of Thomas Harris' horror novel (up until the end) is little more than glossy, well-acted torture porn, and as such set the tone for later films like Saw and Hostel. After a drug bust goes sour, FBI Agent Clarice Starling (here played by Julianne Moore -- both director Jonathan Demme and actress Jodie Foster begged off this sequel to The Silence of the Lambs) is relegated to working the dormant Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter case, but catches a break when a severely disfigured Lecter survivor's offer of a reward for information on Lecter's whereabouts rousts him out of hiding in Florence. Which is too bad, really, as the film's most engaging performance is given by Giancarlo Giannini as an Italian cop who just can't say no to three million dollars. Starling comes off slightly better here than in the novel, though that isn't saying much: with her bizarre little-girl attraction to Lecter, she still makes sexist hiring practices seem like a good idea. (Where's Will Graham when you need him?) Both gross and grotesque, with face-eating dogs, flesh-eating pigs, and a brain-eating cannibal -- and "humor" that equates Lecter's enemies with Judas and Lecter himself with Christ.
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