That's girl power!

Rating: 10/10 (8 June 2001)

Jodie Foster has said that she liked this story because the heroine got to be genuinely heroic--though sometimes in danger, she was never cast as a victim (a rule flagrantly broken in "Hannibal," one of the many reasons why it'll never count as an authentic sequel to "Lambs.") Clarice Starling is the most imaginatively realized female character in American film history, as well as one of its few genuinely believable action heroes. It's easy to forget how important Foster's Clarice is to the precision balance of this drama. Without a worthy adversary/love object, Hannibal wouldn't be quite so impressive.