Back Catalogue: Reviews 2

Directed by Roger Michell
Screenplay Chap Taylor, Michael Tolkin
Cast
Ben Affleck, Samuel L Jackson, Toni Collette, Kim Staunton, Sydney Pollack, Amanda Peet, William Hurt, Dylan Baker, Richard Jenkins, Matt Malloy, John Benjamin Hickey, Ileen Getz

Running time: 1hr 39mins

This is a profoundly involving film about the unraveling of a pair of lives due to petty anger and is a surprisingly thoughtful entertainment from big stars, courtesy of British director Michell (Notting Hill). The set-up is simple: High-powered New York lawyer Gavin (Affleck) is trying to get some important documents to court. Insurance salesman Doyle (Jackson) is going to court to try to stop his wife (Staunton) from moving across the country with their sons. En route, they have a minor fender bender. But instead of sorting out the details like adults, they descend into an all-out feud, getting more and more personal as the day progresses. Before long, this intially small incident has magnified to such an extent that it threatens to destroy both of their lives for good.

Fortunately, the script never goes all Hollywood-stupid on us. Despite some slightly contrived plotting, the themes are drawn out wonderfully without being manipulative or obvious, and it never degenerates into a star vehicle for either of the lead actors.

This is another effective role for Affleck (along with The Sum of All Fears), in that it doesn't require him to be a hero or carry the film; rather, he can put his relatively bland subtlety to fine use as a slippery guy with suppressed pangs of conscience. Meanwhile, Jackson plays against type as a nerdy good guy who seems to attract utter chaos.

Their characters are broadened and deepened by back-stories and fine support from Collette (as Gavin's colleague and ex-mistress), Pollack (Gavin's boss and father-in-law), Peet (Gavin's wife), Hurt (Doyle's AA sponsor), and so on. There's a lot going on in the film, and yet the themes all focus in perfectly on the escalating central conflict, constantly putting us into Gavin's and Doyle's shoes and making us wonder what our next move would be in their place. It all gets a bit tidy at the end, leaving most of the repercussions off screen for us to wonder about. But by then it's certainly got us thinking about what's really important in life and society.

Certainly worth checking out.

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ed Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey keitel, Emily Watson, Mary Louise Parker and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Directed by: Brett Ratner
Writing credits: Thomas Harris (novel)
Ted Tally (screenplay)

Prior to walking into the cinema, it's hard to know by what standards to pre-judge "Red Dragon." This adaptation of Thomas Harris' first book in what became the Hannibal Lecter trilogy has other criteria looming over it.

As it transpires, it's a much richer, more faithful adaptation of Harris' novel than "Manhunter," Michael Mann's "Miami Vice"-like 1986 version of the same book. Additionally, compared to director Brett Ratner's other work ("Rush Hour," "The Family Man"), it is a masterpiece!

But what if you put it up against the entire Lecter movie oeuvre, a list that includes Mann's film, Ridley Scott's "Hannibal" and Jonathan Demme's "Silence of the Lambs"?

In that company, "Red Dragon" still stacks up: it's not as controlled (or surprising) as "Silence," but it's a more serious film than Scott's rococo "Hannibal." Overall, it's a taut, restrained thriller that makes the most of ingenious plotting, even as it draws life from strong performances in all roles.

In this story, which chronologically precedes "Silence", the central figure is Will Graham (Edward Norton), a retired FBI profiler. He quit after capturing Lecter (Anthony Hopkins, in what has become a signature role), almost being killed in the process.

But now his old boss, Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel), has come looking for Graham. A killer has slaughtered families in two different cities; the murders are obviously connected, but the FBI is coming up dry in terms of clues or motive. Crawford needs Graham's special skills his ability to get inside the killer's fantasies to crack the case.

But, after walking through one of the murder scenes and examining the evidence, Graham is at a dead end. He requires the insight of another expert: Lecter.

Even as Graham fences with the mad doctor, we see the killer at home. His name is Francis Dolarhyde (an outstandingly restrained performance from Ralph Fiennes), a man with demons in his past who is in thrall to a voice in his head. The voice seems to emanate from a print of a William Blake painting, telling Dolarhyde that performing these ritualised killings will transform him into a god.

Ted Tally, who won an Oscar for adapting "Silence of the Lambs," does an equally good job at condensing this Harris novel into a crisp, propulsive thriller about a deadly three-way tango between a cop and two killers: one at-large, one behind bars. The relationship between Graham and Lecter is less baroque than the Lecter-Clarisse Starling relationship in "Hannibal". Lecter is like the devil on the shoulder of both men the tortured cop and an equally tortured killer whispering in their ears, urging them both on.

Tally also finds a way to bring what amounted to back-story in the novel into the foreground. After all, Lecter only has a couple of scenes in the book but audiences want to see Anthony Hopkins' chilling smile, listen to his wonderfully flat American accent and imagine all the horrible things he might do, were he not penned up like a starving wolverine.

Norton, beautifully playing a role previously flatly handled by William Petersen in "Manhunter," has an empathy that gives the character a vulnerability Petersen lacked. He seems genuinely overwhelmed by the vibrations from the killing, and obviously spooked when being around Lecter.

Fiennes, meanwhile, says little but lets his eyes speak volumes as a lifelong loner who, at his darkest moment, discovers he has a capacity for love. Harvey Keitel has the right steely assurance as Crawford, who could be seen as Mephistopheles to Graham's Faust were that role not already filled by Hannibal Lecter. The always tremendous Philip Seymour Hoffman does a witty turn as a sleazy tabloid reporter who winds up being part of his own story.

And Lecter? Well, what can you say about Anthony Hopkins in this role that hasn't already been said? Every time he trains his piercing gaze on Graham (or anyone else), he looks like a human piranha, but with the patience and grace of a huge predatory feline. It's as though the sound of millions of snapping, pointy teeth is buzzing behind his eyeballs.

Still, it's a performance, as opposed to a characterization. Whenever Hopkins is onscreen, you're aware of him - as well as Lecter - having a bit of fun with just how scary this guy is, by playing against the grain of the role.

"Red Dragon" is much better than we had any hope to expect, given how many times filmmakers have gone to this particular well. Rather than sensationalise already sensational material, Ratner lets it speak for itself, creating serious thrills and scares along the way.

All in all, a terrific film which upon conclusion will have you reaching eagerly for the DVDs of "Silence" and even "Hannibal" too!