Movie review
The year is 1980, we’re in Baltimore and Hannibal the Cannibal has just served the board of directors of the local symphony a delectable meal made from one of the missing symphony musicians. The opening credits haven’t even started yet.
So begins “Red Dragon,” the prequel to “The Silence of the Lambs.” Anthony Hopkins is back as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He’s joined by Edward Norton as Will Graham, the ex-FBI agent who, after putting Lecter behind bars, needs his expertise to stop a killer dubbed as the Tooth Fairy — Ralph Fiennes.
Instead of Hannibal eating the brains in this film, the gray matter was saved for the plot. Graham, who has retired to Florida with his family after a near fatal run-in with Lecter, is asked to help the FBI solve the ritualistic murders of two families by a killer. The killer believes he is a reincarnated version of William Blake’s “Great Red Dragon” painting. The cast is rounded out with Harvey Keitel as the FBI officer who recruits Graham for the case, and Philip
Seymour Hoffman as the sleazy tabloid journalist who penned the name Tooth Fairy.
The psychological thriller’s best moments are not when you’re at the edge of your seat (which is often), but during the tender exchange between Francis Dolarhyde, aka the Tooth Fairy, and blind photo lab technician Reba McClane, played by Emily Watson. It is in these softer moments, where Dolarhyde battles between his demons and his desire for intimacy, that the audience is drawn in.
Although Fiennes gives the best performance, all the acting is phenomenal. But what else do you expect from this group of Academy Award nominees?
The score was also phenomenal. Composed by Danny Elfman, known for his work on the Tim Burton films “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Beetlejuice” and “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” it shifts from heartfelt to heart-pounding in minutes.
Thanks to stellar acting and a great score, what could have been a mediocre murder movie was made into something more gourmet.