Manhunter - 1986

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), Red Dragon Productions S.A.

Screenplay and Directed by Michael Mann

Cast:

• Will Graham – William Petersen
• Molly Graham - Kim Griest
• Reba McClane – Joan Allen
• Dr. Hannibal Lecter – Brian Cox
• Jack Crawford – Dennis Farina
• Francis Dollarhyde – Tom Noonan
• Dr. Frederick Chilton – Benjamin Hendrickson
• Lt. Fisk – Frankie Faison
• Freddy Lounds – Stephen Lang

Story: Will Graham is a former FBI agent who recently retired to Florida with his wife and son. Graham is a 'profiler' of criminal behavior, and tries to think like the killers he profiles in order to capture them. He is called out of his retirement by his former boss, Jack Crawford, to help the FBI catch an elusive serial killer, known to the press as the 'Tooth Fairy', who randomly kills whole families in their houses during the full moon and leaves bite marks on his victims. While searching for clues to the Tooth Fairy's identity, Will meets with Dr. Hannibal Lector, an incarcerated serial killer who Will captured years earlier. His early dealings with Lector nearly drove him insane, and almost cost him his life. He discovers secret communciations are being routed in newspaper personal ads between Lector and the Tooth Fairy, and Lector may be behind a plot to kill his family for revenge.

Review: This is the first of four reviews I will do on the movies involving the character Hannibal Lector, the horrifying creation of Thomas Harris who even now ranks among the most terrifying villains imagined. A physician and psychiatrist who not only manipulates and murders his patients, but eats them as well. In this first screen appearance of Dr. Lector, he is little more than a footnote. Most of the film concentrates on the toll taken on Will Graham in his return to the FBI and his pursuit of the Tooth Fairy. The film contains the classic Michael Mann “darkness”, and the action is brisk and to the point. Petersen, Cox, Farina, and Noonan give splendid performances, and the overall feel is better (in my opinion) than “Red Dragon”, the remake of this film. Rated R for violence and language as well as disturbing content and images, this is definitely not a family film.

The Bourne Identity - 2002

Universal Pictures, Kennedy/Marshall Company, The Hypnotic

Directed by Doug Liman

Cast:

• Jason Bourne – Matt Damon
• Marie Kreutz – Franka Potente
• Conklin – Chris Cooper
• The Professor – Clive Owen
• Ward Abbott – Brian Cox
• Wombosi - Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
• Zorn – Gabriel Mann
• Nicolette Parsons – Julia Stiles
• Eamon – Tim Dutton

Story: Robert Ludlum's character comes to the screen in the first of three thrilling action-suspense movies. A fishing trawler off the coast of Marseilles fishes a man out of the water. They believe at first he is dead, but when he moves, the captain of the trawler brings him below decks and finds the man has two bullets in his back, and a secret code device in his thigh. When the man wakes up, he has no idea who he is. For the next several days, he works with the men in the trawler, and tries but cannot remember who he is or what he was doing in the water. When they dock, the captain gives the man the device. It leads the man to Geneva to a numbered bank account, and a safety deposit box. In the box, he finds several passports, a lot of money in various international currencies, and a gun. He discovers his name is Jason Bourne, he lives in Paris, and suddenly he is being pursued by men who want to kill him. As they attack again and again, Bourne realizes he is highly trained and skilled, but for what?

Review: Matt Damon comes off well as the celebrated Jason Bourne, and Franka Potente is marvelous as Marie. While loosely based on the character created by Robert Ludlum, The film keeps you drilled to the screen as it moves quickly from one scene to the next. Brian Cox and Chris Cooper are superb character actors and a fine addition to the film as the two CIA operatives in charge of Treadstone. Julia Stiles is particularly good in the role as “Nicki”, the operative who coordinates the “assets”. Excellent performances throughout the film are what makes this story so believable, or is it the fact we, as Americans, think our government is capable of doing this? Language and violence are the reasons for the R rating, so they little ones need to be away from the screen when you are watching. For the grownups, this is an entertaining action film with lots of “wow” moments that led Hollywood to make two more.