The lowly \'Hunter\'

Did you know the new movie "Hannibal" is the third in a trilogy of movies based on novels by Thomas Harris? Well, you can forget about "Manhunter," the first film.\n"Manhunter" is based on the book "Red Dragon: The Pursuit of Hannibal Lecter," yet the film takes place after Lecter is already in jail. FBI Agent Will Graham, who put him there, consults with him to find another serial killer. Sound familiar? Good. Because so does the entire movie. Except "Manhunter" lacks the suspense, intensity, acting ability and class of "Silence of the Lambs." In all fairness, "Manhunter" came out five years before "Silence," but something about Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster and director Jonathan Demme brought class to what was essentially the same plot.\nGraham is played by William L. Petersen, whose acting is too intense, even for this film. The melodrama behind his every line serves only to make the viewer more disinterested in what he has to say. Brooding can be taken too far, and Petersen apparently learned it from the Ethan Hawke school of acting. \nThe cinematography also makes this film look ridiculous. Dante Spinotti seems to be trying to achieve a minimalistic effect, but the white-on-white decor in every scene gets to be a bit much. While he accomplishes a dramatic effect with this at the first murder scene, using it in the rest of the film adds up to artistic overkill. \nAnd last but not least, Dr. Lecter himself. Or Lektor, as they spell and pronounce it in this film. Played by Brian Cox, Lecter remains similarly cunning and intimidating, but to a lesser degree. Cox has been far overshadowed by Hopkins' "Fava beans and a nice chianti" performance in the later film, though Hopkins must have based his performance on Cox to assume so many of the same mannerisms. \n"Manhunter" might be the long-lost precursor to the Oscar-winning "Silence" and the highly anticipated "Hannibal," but unfortunately, it should have stayed lost. Without having read the book, I still think it must be better than this film.