All time worst (some spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (7 January 2000)

Oh goody gumdrops. A chance to express my utter hatred of this execrable and immoral film. I burst out laughing when it won oscars in all the film making departments in which I had found it so inept. Hackneyed dialogue, direction-by-numbers, corny music and silly performances make this one to remember. Hopkins gives a diabolical performance but not in the way you want. He was quite preposterous but, being a canny actor, he gave a cartoon turn very appropriate to the ridiculous plot. Take the money and run, eh Tony? The name 'Dr.Lecter' suggests a moriaty type evil genius which is wonderfully silly. The scene where he is wheeled along in restraints at the airport reminds me of an episode of Batman, a series noted at the time for its pantomime villains. I remember an 8 year old on tv saying this was her favourite film. We were supposed to be shocked that she'd even seen it but I thought: 'how appropriate'. That seems to be the mentality it was aimed at. But the real p***er is when Starling is led into a room where lecter is sitting in this ridiculously huge cage. Roll up, folks! Roll Up! Come and see the most dangerous man in the world! Then there's that crass scene where Lecter listens to classical music while murdering his guards. Hey, Mass murderers like Hitler listened to Wagner. Getting the message? Then the corny fifties way the police draw their revolvers and look at the descending lift arrow. "He's coming down!" Notice the way the camera wobbles as it pans in. Bad. Then there's the naff B-movie dialogue. Jodie Foster saying the Plan 9-like line: "who cut off your patient's head, doctor?" in that portentious southern twang never fails to give me the giggles. And what's the big psychological motivation that Sterling must divulge to Lecter which is susposed to rivet us to our seats with the great drama of it all? Aw shucks, she just wanted to save all those lambys from being slaughtered in her childhood. Blinding! Shakespeare! The way the film tries to make us laugh and side with Lecter at the end as he stalks his captor is sickening and speaks volumes about the moral bankruptcy of America. Hopkins described SOTL as 'that camp little picture' with a smirk. Jonathan Demmie nervously explained how many successful films were B-movies. What can you say about a film whose lead actor and director seem embarrassed by its success? I see a lot of reviewers of this film say it has inspired them to become psychology majors and 'profilers', whatever that means. Have fun, kiddies!