Film Score: ⭐⭐
Released by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (D.E.G.)
Release Date: August 15th, 1986
Starring: William Peterson, Tom Noonan, Joan Allen, and Brian Cox
Written by Michael Mann
Directed by Michael Mann
Rated R (Language and violence)
I am not the biggest Michael Mann fan. I have seen most of his films, but I only like a handful of them. Suffice it to say, but
Manhunter
is not one of them. The film starts out promising. In fact the first hour of the
film is really good. We are introduced to the characters in a nice way, we
believe there interactions, and we care about what they do and the consequences
of their actions. We are given a step by step look at how they go about
figuring out various things that happen and it is exciting. This attention to
detail would also come up in
To Live and Die in L.A., the film that proceeded
this one for star William Petersen and has a
similar look and feel. But where
To Live and Die in L.A. was exciting all the way through,
Manhunter stopped being exciting about halfway through.
The story is pretty straight forward. Will Graham is an FBI
called back into service after two murders have been linked together. Graham is
an expert profiler, having brought down the ruthless and cunning Hannibal
Lecktor (Brian Cox) and lost his mind in the process. Graham takes the case so
long as he isn’t linked to the case. Enter Freddy Lounds (Stephen Lang), a
reporter for a shitty tabloid The National Tattler, who outs Graham’s
involvement with the case.
All of this is great set up and Mann handles it very well.
Graham goes to see Lecktor for help with the case. The scene between the two is
one of the best scenes in the film. Petersen and Cox are clearly at the top of
their game and, while the scene is short, it makes an impression on the
audience that isn’t lost.
After the meeting, Lecktor is found to be hiding a letter
written by the killer and tucked away in a book. Here is where Mann really
shines as a director. His attention to this letter is a main focus for an
extended period of time. He takes us through the steps that the FBI takes in
uncovering the mysteries of the letter. If you have seen this film then you
know how exciting this portion of the film is. I was really intrigued by these scenes
even though I had seen 2002’s
Red Dragon which is adapted from the same novel.
While the first half of the film is loaded with tension and
excitement, the same can not be said about the back half. We are introduced to
the film’s killer, Francis Dollarhyde (Tom Noonan). Dollarhyde is supposed to
be a scary guy, but his introduction, when he is wearing the stocking on his
head, made me laugh very hard. From here until the end of the film, there are
so many scenes that are cringeworthy, and not in a good way, that I was having
a hard time keeping my attention on the film.
We are also introduced to Reba (Joan Allen) who is a
coworker of Dollarhyde. He asks her out and he takes her to the zoo where is
pets a tiger. After that she has sex with him and he falls for her. I like
Allen. She is really good here, but she is given so little to work with that we
wonder why she was included in the film at all.
This is a huge problem I had with the film. The focus of the
film is on Graham so Dollarhyde is pushed to the background. Why isn’t his part
in the film bigger? We spend the first hour of the film learning about how bad
this guy is and then when we get to him, we realize that we were set up for
failure. The Dollarhyde we are told about doesn’t even come close to the one we
are given. And don’t take this as a slight against Tom Noonan, who is a great
actor and does what he can with the role, but I did not find this film’s
Dollarhyde scary at all.
I did find this film’s Lecktor a lot scarier in this film
than Anthony Hopkins’ Oscar winning Lector. Here Cox is so sure of the
character that we don’t even realize that he is a really bad guy until later in
the film. He is menacing and kind and playful and evil all in the same scene.
He makes a big impression and would have liked to have seen him in the role
again.
Aside from the performances, which are really good, I found
the look of the film to be very pleasing. Director of Photography Dante
Spinotti really shines here. I found the first scenes of the film to be gorgeous,
with a shot of the ocean as the sun is setting to be my favorite. There are a
lot of shots in this film that are magnificent and this is where the film excels.
The film looks better than it plays.
There is something that bothered me. Throughout the film,
Graham is seen talking to himself. Most of the time this is ok as he is talking
into a tape recorder or he is watching the videos of the victims, trying to
figure out how Dollarhyde chose these families. Then there is one or two scenes
where is looking out a window and he is posturing. “I’ll get you bad guy. It is
just a matter of time, blah blah blah.” I laughed during these scenes because
they are so out of place. It is like he is Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget. “Next
time Gadget. Next tiiiimmmme!” Just brought a smile to my face thinking that Michael
Mann wrote that dialogue and thought it was good enough to put into the film.
The action scene that ends the film is another thing I had a
problem with. It is so boring and shot so poorly that I swear there are shots
in this scene where no one is in the shot. Mann would go on to direct one of
the best shoot out scenes of all time with Heat (1995) so it made me wonder if
I had seen it wrongly. Nope, there is a shot or two where there is nothing
happening. Why is that shot there? Also, there are some jump cuts that seem
really out of place. I don’t know. The scene is so short that it doesn’t even
matter.
Manhunter is not a very good film. The performances are
really good, especially by Brian Cox, but they don’t save the film. If Mann had
rewritten the second half to be as good as the first half, we might have had a
good film on our hands. As it stands, though, Manhunter is half a good film.
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