The Silence of the Lambs

"The Silence of the Lambs" is regarded by many as one of the greatest thrillers ever made. I fully agree--if we're talking about Michael Crichton thrillers.

Unfortunately, "Silence" can't hold a candle to the truly great, as opposed to merely entertaining, thrillers.

Why not? First off, the ridiculous premise. Jodie Foster is Clarice, an FBI agent-in-training who is called on to interview Hannibal Lecter, one of the most dangerous serial killers on the planet. Lecter is believed to have information on Buffalo Bill, a serial killer who is still on the loose. Why is Clarice chosen for this job, despite her total lack of experience? Because Jodie Foster is an extremely attractive woman. In fact, throughout the film we are reminded that Jodie Foster is a woman, that Jodie Foster is hot and that men will behave irrationally in the presence of hot, hot women like Jodie Foster.

If you can get past this silliness, you may enjoy the movie. But you'll also have to deal with ridiculous plot twists. Such as: when Hannibal uses the word "yourself," Clarice realizes that this is unusual and must be a clue. (Apparently she is a master linguist in addition to being an ace amateur detective.) This tips Clarice off that Hannibal has a unit at the "Your Self Storage Facility," where she finds...a severed head. Which is gross. But not particularly frightening.

In fact, many of the "scary" moments in "Silence" are really just gross-out moments, not much different than what you would see these days on your average CSI episode. And that's part of the problem: when you rely on shock value, your movie becomes dated very quickly.

A good thriller works by making us afraid of what will happen next. "Silence" only achieves this at the very end, and even then, it can't resist another silly moment as the killer is gunned down.

It's a shame "Silence" couldn't be a better film. It squanders a couple of artful twists, along with a very good performance by Anthony Hopkins. But most of this movie leaves one too incredulous to be scared.