Review: Manhunter

William Petersen stars as haunted, burnt-out FBI agent Will Graham, called back from retirement by his boss/friend Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina) to help track down a serial killer dubbed ‘The Tooth Fairy’, real-name Francis Dollarhyde (Tom Noonan). An expert in serial killer profiling, Graham has been resting up on the Florida beach with his wife (Kim Greist), after getting a psychological pummelling by cannibal serial killer Hannibal Lektor (Brian Cox). Unfortunately for Graham, he’s gonna need the very same past acquaintance (currently jailed) to assist him in tracking down Dollarhyde, who has formed a peculiar bond with a blind co-worker (Joan Allen) whose life may be in very grave danger. Stephen Lang plays gutter journalist Freddy Lounds.

 

I don’t think I’d ever seen this 1986 Michael Mann (“Thief”, “Last of the Mohicans”, “Heat”, “The Insider”) film in its entirety until now, and now having seen it I’d say it’s on about the same level as “Silence of the Lambs” and “Red Dragon” (which is a remake of this film). That is to say, they’re all solid films, with “Silence of the Lambs” being a touch overrated and “Red Dragon” quite underrated. All three films have their strengths and weaknesses, and since “Red Dragon” was a remake of this film and “Silence of the Lambs” features characters from this film, and all three are films based on the work of Thomas Harris, I’ll inevitably spend some time comparing and contrasting (You can skip Ridley Scott’s “Hannibal” by the way, it’s a gory, overblown piece of shit).

 

You can tell from moment one that this is a Michael Mann film and that it’s from the 1980s, it looks absolutely stunning in that cool 80s way as shot by Dante Spinotti (“The Last of the Mohicans”, “Heat”). The synth score by The Reds and Michel Rubini (the latter having composed the score for the New Wave vampire flick “The Hunger”) is cool too, but a little insistent for my taste. William L. Petersen basically does a dry run for his “CSI” schtick here as Will Graham, and although Edward Norton (who played the part in “Red Dragon”) is an infinitely more talented actor, Petersen’s Graham is far more interesting and Petersen’s performance is actually pretty damn good. I’m not normally a fan of the actor, but his performance here is better than his bland turn as Pat Garrett in the otherwise enjoyable “Young Guns II”. Petersen’s Graham is more emotional, more tortured, as Hannibal really has done one heck of a number on this guy’s psyche. On the flip side, Kim Greist is far less effective as Graham’s wife than Mary-Louise Parker was in “Red Dragon”. Greist doesn’t register at all and looks like she came second in a Glenn Close lookalike competition (which is funny because she was actually offered the Close role in “Fatal Attraction”). The supporting cast are thankfully infinitely more interesting and accomplished than Greist, with Tom Noonan and Joan Allen especially standing out. Character actor Tom Noonan cuts an immediately unsettling figure as the creepy Dollarhyde, AKA ‘The Tooth Fairy’. Dollarhyde is a rather pathetic figure, but nonetheless is a dangerous and deranged killer. “Red Dragon” seemed to give Dollarhyde and his blind co-worker (played in that film by Emily Watson) more emphasis and depth than this film does. However, I’m not gonna say that Ralph Fiennes is better or worse than Noonan as Dollarhyde. They’re two very different performances – Fiennes perhaps more sympathetic – and both absolutely brilliant. Noonan’s performance is truly idiosyncratic and almost otherworldly at times. Controversial opinion: Dollarhyde in either version is a more interesting character than any version of Hannibal Lecter/Lektor. Fight me if you must. Joan Allen plays her character’s blindness a touch more subtle than many mistakenly have in blind roles over the years. She doesn’t bother with that intense focus off to the side of people that many actors rely upon. I probably prefer Watson’s sweeter interpretation, but Allen works very well nonetheless.

 

The late Dennis Farina has zero issues convincing as a lawman, the former Chicago cop is easily one of the best actors to have originally come from another world/profession. He’s a lot better as Jack Crawford than the coasting Harvey Keitel in “Red Dragon”. Aside from Dollarhyde, the showiest role in the story is that of sleazy reporter Freddy Lounds. Stephen Lang is no Philip Seymour Hoffman, but just as he proved in “Tombstone”, Lang is an easy guy to hate on screen and boy is Freddy Lounds an easy character to hate. As for Dr. Hannibal Lektor (Yep, it’s spelled differently here), Brian Cox gives an objectively good performance. Cox’s Lektor is a far more ordinary criminal/killer than that played later by Sir Anthony Hopkins who played it to the cheap seats for all it was worth in “Silence of the Lambs” (and then overplayed it subsequently in the other films). The one advantage Cox has here is he looks physically imposing and brutish enough to be a real dangerous threat, whereas Hopkins’ Hannibal was mostly a mind-fuck kinda guy, a teasing prick who nonetheless could still bite your face off if you dare blink at the wrong time. No matter how good Cox is here, we’re obviously going to associate Hopkins with the role for the rest of eternity. Look out for a bunch of familiar character faces doing small, thankless, but solid work: Dan Butler, Chris Elliott, Bill Smitrovich, etc).

 

It’s a good movie, well-made by the very frustrating Michael Mann. The guy has made one great film (“Last of the Mohicans”), several really good ones (“Heat”, “Thief”, “The Insider”, this), but also absolute turds like “The Keep”, “Miami Vice”, and “Public Enemies”. Watching how confident and assured this film is just reminds you of how damn talented he is, but also how disappointing it is that there aren’t more films like this one in his filmography. For me the only real misstep Mann makes is in the slightly overblown finale that doesn’t quite jive with the rest of the film. Did we really need the slow-mo, Mr. Mann?

 

A good – and good-looking – film that will likely be overshadowed for eternity by the more well-known “Silence of the Lambs”. The Will Graham character is an interesting anchor, and most of the performances are terrific, with Tom Noonan a particularly unnerving standout as Dollarhyde. I’m not sure if I’d recommend this over its remake “Red Dragon” or not, as the latter film has some really great performances, but also a lot of scene-for-scene rehashing from this film, too. Maybe see all three films, as they’re all solid.  

 

Rating: B