Manhunter (1986)

Director: Michael Mann

Starring: William Peterson, Kim Grist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, Tom Noonan, Stephen Lang

More info: IMDB

Tagline: It's just you and me now, sport...

Plot: Will Graham is a former FBI agent who recently retired to Florida with his wife Molly and their young son. Graham was a 'profiler'; one who profiles criminal's behavior and tries to put his mind into the minds of criminals to examine their thoughts while visiting crime scenes. Will is called out of his self-imposed retirement at the request of his former boss Jack Crawford to help the FBI catch an elusive serial killer, known to the press as the 'Tooth Fairy', who randomly kills whole families in their houses during nights of the full moon and leaves bite marks on his victims. To try to search for clues to get into the mind of the killer, Will has occasional meetings with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a charismatic but very dangerous imprisoned serial killer that Will captured years earlier which nearly drove him insane from the horrific encounter that nearly cost Will's life. With some help and hindrance, Will races against the clock before the next full moon when the 'Tooth Fairy' will strike again. Elsewhere, a local photographer named Francis Dollarhyde, the killer that Will is looking for, struggles to stay undetected while seeing a hope of redemption when be begins a relationship with a blind woman who is not aware of his double life.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yup.



Based on the Thomas Harris novel, Red Dragon, this is the first film adaptation of the Hannibal Lecter character. The book is fantastic and MANHUNTER does it justice. Since it's a Michael Mann film, it's oozing with style, almost too much. It's a great looking picture with great performances. Noonan as the killer is perfect...and Joan Allen...mmmmm. She needs to have my babies. It's always a treat to see Dennis Farina. I like what Brian Cox did with Lecter. It's much more grounded than Hopkins' take. Hopkins was more of a charming monster while Cox was just charming and calculated. In fairness, we don't see Cox's Lecter doing very much. Maybe if they had cut him loose it could have been different...and better. Who knows. Who cares. They're both strong characterizations.


Now we get to the most important role of the film and that's of Will Graham (William Peterson). He's weak. That's all there is to it. He doesn't have the acting chops to take on such a complex character. You need someone who can act with their eyes and face, not someone who's best comprises of just one level of angst. He looks like he's trying too hard to get across what we're supposed to know. When it looks like an actor is forcing an emotion, it's just plain bad. Jamie Foxx does that a lot. You need more than someone capable of a one-note performance in a symphony of emotions.


Speaking of which, the score by Michael Rubini and The Reds is great. I'm glad Mann didn't go with his usual choice of Tangerine Dream. So many of Mann's films are marred by odd score choices, but not this one.


If you're one of the few that haven't seen any of the Lecter films, this is a good one to start with. Hell, I'd say watch them in the order of the film's release with SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) next followed by HANNIBAL (2001) and ending with the remake, RED DRAGON (2002). You can skip HANNIBAL RISING (2007) altogether. It's pointless and completely unnecessary.