Ron Does Stuff

I’ve always been curious about Manhunter ever since I heard about it in passing from a newspaper column. I think it was Jessica Zafra who mentioned it? Anyways, since I’ve been on a Thomas Harris thing for the past few weeks, I looked around and what do you know, there’s a copy of Manhunter online!

As most people know by now, Manhunter was actually the first attempt to adapt a piece of Hannibal Lecter media. It’s the film adaptation of Red Dragon and directed by Michael Mann, so I immediately expect it to be better than Brett Ratner’s own adaptation.

And right off the bat it already distinguishes itself with that unsettling video of the family Francis Dolarhyde is about to kill. And there isn’t even anything violent shown! It isn’t as lurid as the Brett Ratner adaptation is and yet is much more unsettling.

The movie also looks and sounds very 80s, but in a way that gives it character and doesn’t make it look corny. It really looks like a snapshot of a certain point in history, especially if you combine it with the synth soundtrack. It’s synth, right?

Manhunter is also very faithful to the book, oftentimes lifting entire blocks of dialogue from it. But it gives it a little oomph that gives it its own character, which you gotta credit Michael Mann and the actors for. I really like how they brought out the tension between the FBI and the local police force during that scene where Price calls and talks about the prints he discovered on the Leeds’ family’s bodies.

If there’s one thing that I think Manhunter doesn’t do as good is Freddie Lounds. Now that is a dated interpretation that hasn’t aged well. And the over-the-top way that Will reacts to him. Hilarious. I don’t want to give Brett Ratner props for his superior Lounds because I suspect that’s all Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Brian Cox and William Petersen certainly have better chemistry than Edward Norton and Anthony Hopkins did in Red Dragon. Cox and Petersen deliver restrained performances that build up to bursts of energy that really grip you when it happens.

It’s also amazing to me that this film brings further to the fore what I didn’t quite like about Red Dragon? That film was also set in the 80s, but when you place it side by side with this one it’s clear which one is authentically representing the era rather than imitating it? And I know this is stupid because Manhunter came out in the 80s so duh but maybe Red Dragon would have been served better if it pulled itself into the future?

Tom Noonan’s Francis Dolarhyde is a different creature than Ralph Fiennes’. It’s much more quiet and…feminine? It’s softer somehow than Ralph’s Francis Dolarhyde but is just as unsettling, if in a different way. I hope that made sense because I can’t seem to articulate it clearly! Ralph Fiennes is definitely hotter though!

Now I know I’ve been hating on Red Dragon for most of this review, but there are parts of it that I prefer more than Manhunter‘s. Francis and Reba’s relationship is definitely better fleshed out in Red Dragon than here and there’s more chemistry between Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson than Tom Noonan and Joan Allen. WHICH IS NOT A SLIGHT ON JOAN ALLEN MY PLEASANTVILLE QUEEN.

Now I finally get to see where Manhunter struggles and it’s in the final third of the movie. It runs out of steam at this point and it kinda loses my attention as well. The final third is as much Francis and Reba’s domain as Will’s and not investing in that relationship really hurt this movie later on. What we’re left with is the expected action movie shoot-out and that’s that.

All in all, an interesting adaptation that’s got more of a soul than Red Dragon that’s unfortunately hobbled by the last third of the film. Check it out if you have the time and want to check out a lesser known piece of Hannibal Lecter media.