Good but not great

Rating: Null/10 (3 July 2007)

Silence of the Lambs is a horror/thriller film most notable for its character of Hannibal Lector a cannibalistic psychopath played by Anthony Hopkins. Jodie Foster is one of my favorite actresses and she seems a little too vulnerable here to be an FBI agent. Anthony Hopkins, surely one of the world's greatest actors, is suitably creepy as psychopathic Dr. Lector, however, I prefer his performance in Magic; his role is much larger in that movie and he does more acting. Jonathan Demme, also one of my favorite directors, does a good job but, once again, I prefer his Married to the Mob (1988) or Harold and Melvin (1980) over this film. Howard Shore's musical score is terrific. As far as violence goes, Silence of the Lambs might have been shocking when it was release but, by today's standards, it is tame. There are no lingering closeups of violence. The CSI TV series shows much more graphic images. I see why this film won Academy Awards, mainly because the competition was not that stiff. Although it's a good film, it does not deserve the high status that is has been accorded. But it is still well worth seeing because of the tension it manages to build and for the terrific performances of Hopkins and Foster.