doesn't deserve its high reputation

Rating: 3/10 (3 January 2011)

Despite the impressive credentials this so-called thriller is nothing more than quality exploitation with highbrow pretensions, none of which can patch the many plot holes and jarring improbabilities. The script presents an awkward adaptation of what must have been a much fuller (if equally unpleasant) novel, compressing the material with too many transparent narrative gaps and shortcuts, including some amazing FBI deductions worthy of Sherlock Holmes.
The idea of using one psychopath to help catch another is intriguing, but having two serial killers dilutes the impact of the story, especially when it focuses more on cartoon cannibal Anthony Hopkins, already in custody until his illogical, unlikely escape. Nothing much is learned about the other killer-at-large (an apparent reject from a David Lynch freak-show), and the film ends as a typical damsel-in-distress drama with haunted house shock effects.
The screenplay is overloaded with bogus psychological significance and padded with irrelevant flashbacks, and the film was shot entirely in blunt, video-format close-ups, with director Jonathan Demme apparently trying to get inside the mind of his characters by simply shoving the camera in their faces. The manhunt is also highlighted by a gratuitous excess of explicit gore, but that doesn't stop it from having a happy ending, for everyone involved, including cannibal/killer Hannibal Lecter.