Manhunter

Manhunter (1986)

Runtime: 120 minutes

Directed by: Michael Mann

Starring: William Petersen, Kim Griest, Dennis Farina, Tom Noonan, Brian Cox

From: De Laurentiis Entertainment Group

Having William Petersen be part of my weekend was a wise decision. It wasn't the original idea to revisit two of his movies in a row but scrolling through the Criterion Channel as I was gonna put something else on made me realize that Manhunter would be the better way to go. As this was better than I recalled from the initial viewing long ago... the right call was made.

Instead of playing a Secret Service agent, Petersen was former FBI behavioral profiler Will Graham who retired after a bad encounter w/ Hannibal Lecktor (why Lecter's name was changed is a mystery to me) but is asked to return and in fact needs Lecktor's help to catch Francis Dollarhyde-another name changed from the novel-a serial killer who simply wants acceptance yet is incredibly warped and is a terrifying villain.

There are reasons why I rate this quite high: it's a story that has layers and is fully rewarding as long as you pay attention... later you'll pick up various details and understand some character motivations. There's the 80's version of forensics along with various members of the FBI collaborating on this case of The Tooth Fairy Killer. The aesthetics are awesome... sunsets, various characters/locations having a tint to them such as Dollarhyde/green or Graham's house/blue. It's another rad 80's score. It takes a long while before Francis shows up but they succinctly present his motivations and his struggles. Come to think of it, the story in general slowly unfurls and it takes the audience awhile to fully know what's happening-in this case, a decision that works for this tale.

Also, there are some great scenes that range from Graham finally having a serious conversation with his young son concerning the aftermath of his first experiences w/ Lecktor to an incredible finale that involve various sections of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, the full 17 minute version-the movie ends on a high note, even with some curious editing choices. It has quite the cast, including some that would later become famous. You may not recognize Stephen Lang and his amazing head of hair at first.

To not give away all the highlights, I'll state that it's not a surprise this was not a hit when it was released but only later did it become a cult favorite. The fact that The Silence of the Lambs was a huge hit did bring this attention, although the two movies are as different from each other as was Anthony Hopkins and his version of Hannibal was different from what Brian Cox and his brief screentime did. Cox's interpretation was appropriate for this material; note that I've never seen Red Dragon so I can't do any comparisons between the two. Also, I've never seen a second of the Hannibal TV show so I've only heard a few things concerning its wild reputation and honestly, JUST NOW heard that Will Graham is the foe of the title character so that shows you how much I ignore fictional television in general.