HANNIBAL

Anthony Hopkins in "Hannibal."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore Director: Ridley Scott Rated: R, with Gruesome gore, nudity and profanity Length: 131 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(February 9, 2001) -- Hannibal (the Cannibal) Lecter is hungry again.

After a decade of presumed restraint -- living a life of culture in Florence Italy -- one of the screen's most horrific monsters is back into mayhem.

And the mayhem is displayed, in all its resplendent gore, in Hannibal.

The moody, dreamlike film by Ridley Scott lacks the impact of Jonathan Demme's Oscar-sweeping Silence of the Lambs, but perverse pleasures abound.

Chief among them is Anthony Hopkins, reprising his Oscar-winning performance as the brilliant, refined and terrifying title character.

Julianne Moore ably picks up the role of FBI agent Clarice Starling, now more mature and accomplished, since Jodie Foster passed on doing the sequel.

As the new story opens -- in this film adaptation of Thomas Harris' third Hannibal novel -- Starling has established herself as one of the bureau's brightest agents.

However, in the drug raid that opens the film, things go wrong. A woman is killed with a baby in her arms, and Starling is called on the carpet for reckless behavior.

Though the novel uses Starling's anger and guilt about the incident to make the once-strong agent a bit more vulnerable, the connection isn't as obvious in the film -- and it's missed.

Meanwhile, Lecter's new life in Italy has been discovered by detectives working for Mason Verger, a disfigured survivor of an earlier Hannibal attack. He's played under makeup -- and uncredited -- by Gary Oldman. Verger is obsessed with trapping Lecter into the most painful, sick revenge that he can imagine.

Trailing Lecter in Florence is Pazzi (Giancarlo Giannini), an investigator working for Verger, who has no idea how in-over-his-head he's getting.

Starling soon gets wind of the new Lecter activity, and the film evolves into a three-way battle among the vengeful Verger, the resourceful Starling, and the brilliant Hannibal, who responds to the renewed interest with a gleeful "Goody, goody."

By the end, we're invited to a dinner party with a centerpiece so graphic, viewers won't know whether to cringe, giggle, or look aghast. (Personally, I wondered whether what I was seeing was technically possible.) The book's many readers should know that, as promised, the ending of the film offers different twists.

Once again, Hopkins uses stillness in both conversation and body language to suggest Hannibal's powerful, amoral nature, along with his ability to explode in violence.

Though I would have preferred to see Foster tackle the more assured version of Starling a decade later, Moore is a fine actress and properly displays the agent's strength and conviction, as well as the West Virginia accent first delivered by Foster.

Scott and his actors and writers never create moments as intense as the Lecter-Starling prison debates in The Silence of the Lambs, nor as riveting as Lecter's escape, nor as nail-bitingly suspenseful as Starling's confrontation with Buffalo Bill in the dark cellar.

To put it in terms Lecter might appreciate, The Silence of the Lambs was a gourmet feast for thriller fans; Hannibal is an elegantly displayed lunch.