Getting A Good Consultant

Rating: 9/10 (3 August 2007)

It seems as though there is a serial killer out there who's grabbed the daughter of a United States Senator and this guy has zoomed right to the top of FBI's Most wanted. This man's modus operandi is to keep the victims alive for a while before killing them so they're racing against time to find him. Desperate situations call for desperate measures.
The desperate measure is, you want to catch a serial killer, bring in one as a consultant. That's why FBI trainee Jodie Foster goes to visit Anthony Hopkins in prison. Hopkins is not just a killer who eats his victims, he's a brilliant psychologist himself with insights maybe no one else has.
Of course his price are some cheap insights into Jodie Foster's soul, thrills he probably got when he was in practice.
The Silence of the Lambs in less capable hands could have just been another cheap slasher flick. Instead the leads who walked off with the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress give riveting performances of a sick twisted psycho and a woman who became the biggest feminist icon since Sigourney Weaver by confronting some demons of her own. It's the best work that Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster have ever done and let's not forget the Oscars won by Director Jonathan Demme and the Picture itself for being the Best in 1991.
A couple of players who made their marks on television later on also score well here. Anthony Heald who was Buffy the Vampire Slayer's handler plays the psychiatrist in the institute where Hopkins is incarcerated and who Hopkins makes a fool of and says at the end he's far from done with. Also Ted Levine who is Captain Stottlemeyer on Monk plays the serial killer the FBI is trying to catch. Also look for a good performance by Brooke Smith as Levine's potential victim.
The Silence of the Lambs with its taut direction and riveting performances has an appeal far beyond the horror genre. See it and you'll know what I mean.