The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The Silence of the Lambs is probably my least "Halloween-y" movie I'll be watching this month. In fact, it's so far off the beaten path that I wasn't sure if I should still watch it, at least during this marathon. After asking all my friends (who said I should), and having the "best killer" poll about a week ago which Hannibal won by a staggering landslide, I decided that I would include it in my "Halloween Movie Marathon."

This is an extremely famous film that I never saw, and many of my friends, for years, have given me the "You haven't seen that?!" line. I've heard a ton of famous lines from the film, and seen many iconic images, and heard a lot of great things about this movie. Can it possibly live up to all the hype? I'll tell you, but you'll have to do something for me first. Quid pro quo. All you have to do is hit the jump!


Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is not an agent of the FBI. However, she is in training to be one. She's among the top in her class, and she's given a chance to prove herself with a very special assignment. She is to interview the great Dr. Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins) to try and get some insight into the mind of a psychopath. At the same time, there is another serial killer on the loose that the media calls "Buffalo Bill" (Ted Levine). If she can somehow get some help from Dr. Lector to solve the case, they might actually be able to save a young girl's life. Of course, Lector is far more interested in getting into the thoughts and mind of this agent in training.

The first meeting of Clarice and Hannibal Lector

I had a lot of really high hopes for this movie. All I've ever heard were praises piled on top of praises for almost as long as I can remember. Keep in mind I was only 10 when this movie came out, and of course there was no way I'd be allowed to see such a film then. I just wanted to say that before I admit that the film wasn't everything I had hoped, and been lead to believe, it would be.

Of course the shining star of the movie is Anthony Hopkins as the genius psychopath Dr. Hannibal Lector. The way he talks, the way he stares, in fact everything about him is just a little off. When he looks at you, it's more like he's looking through you, or into you. Like he's sizing you up for dinner. Oh, did I forget to mention he's a cannibal? Well I'm sure most of you already knew that anyways. This is Hannibal we're talking about, after all! And he was easily the best part of the whole film. But that's also where it ended up disappointing me. He just didn't seem to be in it very much.

The famous face mask

I'm not sure what I was expecting. I guess I just thought there would be more of him. Also, almost every single thing he said was a line I recognized. If you haven't seen The Silence of the Lambs, then just imagine all the famous quotes you've ever heard from Hannibal, and you've probably got about 3/4 of his total screen time. Most of the movie, instead, follows Jodie Foster around as she is at school, or when she's out on the "Buffalo Bill" case herself. She occasionally pops back in to get a few more words with Lector, but she seems to do most of the talking (especially in later visits), and then she's off again on the case. Now, I could be wrong, and maybe the Hannibal Lector scenes make up a much larger portion of the movie than I realized, but after it was all over, I just had a feeling like he wasn't in it very much.

Another thing, while so many lines of his popped up that I recognized, like the bit about fava beans, or having an old friend for lunch, one of the lines I kept waiting and waiting to come up, "Hello, Clarice" simply never happened. The closest he ever got was a "Good Evening Clarice", but no "hello". This all felt far too familiar, like after I watched Casablanca and kept waiting for the "Play it again, Sam" line to pop up. Sure enough, a quick Google search for misquoted movie lines brings up the "Hello Clarice" line right away. And let me tell you, when you're just waiting and waiting to hear those words, and they never come up, it's really disappointing!

He's creepy even when he smiles. Especially when he smiles!

I really didn't care much for the entire "Buffalo Bill" case, or any of the characters in the film, save for Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lector. He was indeed fantastic, and stole every scene. He made Jodie Foster's decent performance look wooden in comparison. So while I was in complete agreement with all the hype I've heard regarding Lector, the hype about the movie in general just seems overblown. It certainly wasn't bad, but I just didn't care for it, and I suspect when people think back and praise this movie, they're only thinking of Anthony Hopkins' performance, and nothing else.

I'd still recommend people see the film, but I'd add in one caveat to simply not believe the hype. There are some gross scenes, there are some famous lines, and there's Anthony Hopkins, but it's also got a dull "everything else" to contend with. Also, don't expect to hear that "Hello Clarice" line, because it simply doesn't exist. So long as you go in with some managed expectations, I think you'll enjoy the movie just fine. I only wished I had known that myself.