Red Dragon (2002)

Starring Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker, Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Directed by Brett Ratner.
Written by Ted Tally.
Based on the novel by Thomas Harris.
Distributed by Universal Pictures.
124 minutes.

LVJeff's Rating: 7/10

Movie, Direct Thyself

You've got to feel a bit sorry for Brett Ratner. You can almost be certain that he was hired to direct Red Dragon so that he wouldn't get in the way of a movie that can direct itself. After all, he's famous for helming Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2, two movies that felt as if they directed themselves -- you know, by pointing a camera and just letting Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan do their thing. I'm sure Ratner deserves more credit than that, but I can almost hear the studio execs talking about getting Red Dragon off the ground:

"OK, who's onboard?"

"We've got a great cast! Anthony Hopkins, of course, but also Ed Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson, Harvey Keitel... the works! We've got acclaimed cinematographer Dante Spinotti, who worked on Manhunter, and the screenwriter is Ted Tally, who did the screenplay to Silence of the Lambs! Danny Elfman will do the score, and, of course, Mr. Dino De Laurentiis here is producer!"

"Wow, this movie directs itself! Speaking of the director, who've we got?"

"How about Brett Ratner? His movies have made a lot of money, but he doesn't have an auteurist schtick. Hollywood loves this kind of guy!"

"Perfect!"

I'm being glib, of course -- I've read that Ratner was the one who suggested and went after the fabulous cast -- but I also somewhat believe the story my friend told me. She read an article about Ratner saying the actors did their own thing while asking him to stand aside. And, no doubt, Red Dragon feels like a movie factory-assembled from proven cinematic techniques, storytelling devices, and actors going through the motions. It mostly works, too, as far as being entertaining is concerned.

Red Dragon's only aim is to please its built-in audience, giving them what they want -- more Hannibal Lecter and sumptuous thrills. It's a remake of De Laurentiis's own 1986 production Manhunter, a flawed but stylish adaptation of Thomas Harris's Red Dragon novel directed by Michael Mann. However, audiences weened on Hopkins's playful version of the Dr. Lecter character (from Silence of the Lambs) probably either haven't heard of or won't be able to connect to Mann's film (which featured Brian Cox as a very bored, you're-wasting-my-time type of "Dr. Lektor," in a very small part). So they are offered this new version, which features as much of Hopkins's Hannibal as the filmmakers could squeeze in.

But in a story meant to focus on two other characters, Hannibal's gratuitous scenes expectedly create repercussions throughout the rest of the movie. Its length is a healthy two hours, with plenty of time devoted to developing the character trio of Hannibal, Detective Will Graham (Ed Norton), and villain Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes). At first, much of the concentration is on Graham and Lecter, but when Dolarhyde enters the picture he conspicuously competes for screen time and the movie's focus becomes hazy. Part of this is a fault of the story -- the shift in the spotlight from protagonist to antagonist moves the plot away from being an involving mystery to being more of a character study (it was also something that bothered me about Manhunter). And by beefing up a minor character's role, it all feels a little much. One particular sequence exemplifies this strange three's-a-crowd conundrum -- the movie cuts from Graham figuring something out to Dolarhyde agonizing to Lecter eating dinner and back and forth again. It was almost as if it was asking the viewers who they really wanted the movie to be about.

Despite my problems with the story in general, I mostly enjoyed Red Dragon, and I must confess that I liked the extra doses of Hannibal this time around (for instance, the intro sequence is a lot of fun). Hopkins is getting hammier, but darn it if he isn't having a good time with his pop culture persona. I was also happy with the few plot deviations the film employed to differentiate itself from Manhunter -- the blind woman Reba (Emily Watson) is treated with more sympathy, and the ending has a crackerjack climax. Best of all, this movie is waaaay better than the sequel to Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, because it doesn't reduce itself to a joke.

Overall, I'd say Ratner did a pretty good job of letting the movie direct itself.

©Jeffrey Chen, Oct. 5, 2002

This review also appears at The CineFiles.

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