Brilliant and hypnotic

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2005)

Though my dedication to this film sometimes freaks people out (I've been known to quote it at somewhat inopportune moments), I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of. This film is a brilliant, tightly-plotted masterpiece, a tour de force of masterful acting, absorbing dialogue, and tempo and pacing that is at once highly tense and soothingly mesmerizing. The give-and-take between Starling and Lector has an almost heartbeat-like rhythm, quiet and subtle yet extraordinarily powerful. I don't think it's inappropriate to say that this film doesn't hit any truly false notes. The main reason that my friends often won't watch this film is simply because it scares them too much -- which, I believe, is one of the film's greatest triumphs.