Two films in one!

Rating: 7/10 (29 March 2015)

The Silence of the Lambs is two good movies... unfortunately it is packaged as one film.
I won't dive too much into the plot as I'm sure most of you have seen the film by now. But just in case: The film follows an FBI student who is following a case of a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill who skins his victims. The FBI student must use a locked up serial killer known as Hannibal Lector to help her figure out who the Buffalo Bill murderer is.
The performances in this movie are all very good. Hannibal Lector is very intimidating, and Clarice is also well portrayed by Jodie Foster as a woman who is trying to prove herself, but might be slightly out of her league at times. These two characters are both very interesting and their interaction is very well-done... however, the film forgets that this isn't the movie's plot.
The movie is about finding Buffalo Bill. It is not about Hannibal Lector. This is such an interesting mistake that the movie makes because around 50% of the movie's run time is dedicated to learning about Hannibal and making him an interesting character yet... he only effects about 2% of the movie's plot. The movie has a whole escape sequence dedicated to him, only for him never to be seen again in the movie. The only thing that Hannibal does to effect the plot is this: He gives Clarice two hints. That is it. The movie forgets that just because you have an interesting character it doesn't mean that they are a relevant character. Hannibal Lector is IRRELEVANT to the movie's plot. If his arc would connect with Clarice's arc a bit more, then this would be excusable, but when such a large section of the movie is dedicated to him for no real purpose, it gets kind of... stupid.
I can see why people adore this movie, and it is because Hannibal is an interesting character. However, the movie DEDICATES itself to making him interesting but doesn't dedicate itself to WHY he is even in the plot... and the answer is: there is no reason. There is no real reason for Hannibal to be in the plot.
Regardless of the relevance of Hannibal, the movie's ACTUAL story isn't half bad. It is about an FBI student getting over her weaknesses and trying to prove herself. In the end, she proves herself and becomes a stronger woman. We see her confront fear in the face when at the beginning of the movie she would break down at fear. I would say that the character is better acted than she is developed. Her back-story and motivation is quite literally summed up in one scene of exposition. Hannibal basically says: What motivates you? Clarice: Screaming sheep.
This brings us to the last minor gripe of the film: Hannibal is a gruesome murderer and even kills multiple people during his escape, yet Clarice talks to him at the end as if nothing really happened. She doesn't even seemed concerned that he makes a pun about going to eat someone in a little bit. Just because he is an interesting character doesn't mean that he is excused for being evil. Clarice, who seems to have a strong sense of justice and knowledge, is out of character when she accepts this. Her character wouldn't accept that.
All in all, the movie's main story and ending sequence is pretty good. You probably know where it is going, but it is still well done. All of my gripes combined, it becomes quite obvious that this is two entirely different films: One half is dedicated to Hannibal, the other half is dedicated to the actual story. The two halves do not fully connect which then makes the film: broken. This is a broken film that doesn't know what it is aiming for. Regardless of it being broken, it is still well shot, well acted, well directed, and much better than the average. I have to give credit where it is due that this film is much better than the average film, but it could've been a great film if it knew what it was aiming for.