The Stop Button

It's hard to know what to think of Red Dragon. While it's an adaptation of a novel, it's also a remake of Manhunter, whether the film wants to acknowledge it or not. It's got Danny Elfman doing the score, so it's scary (though he does seem rather influenced by early 1990s Morricone) and director Ratner works in the opposite direction of what Mann accomplished in Manhunter.

It also features Edward Norton's worst performance. I watched it wondering what he used the money on and apparently he used it to finance 25th Hour, which makes sense. It's a bunch of Academy Award winning or nominated actors turning in lousy performances. Ralph Fiennes is goofy as a serial killer, Emily Watson barely holds her accent, Philip Seymour Hoffman is atrocious--it's the kind of movie where if Harvey Keitel were drinking through the whole thing, it'd be funny. Instead, he's not and it's not. It's depressing.

I think the worst served has got to be Mary-Louise Parker, who's so boring as Norton's wife, her outfits have more personality. Anthony Hopkins is crappy, but in his unspectacular way he's crappy. He's top-billed on a conductor-less train wreck.

There should be something to recommend Red Dragon--it's an immensely watchable (at least once) curiosity, just because it's so lousy and such a drab remake of Manhunter. It's supposedly more faithful to the source novel--no surprise, Mann made some significant improvements.

Norton looks about fifteen in it, wearing his dad's suits.

CREDITS

Directed by Brett Ratner; screenplay by Ted Tally, based on the novel by Thomas Harris; director of photography, Dante Spinotti; edited by Mark Helfrich; music by Danny Elfman; production designer, Kristi Zea; produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Martha De Laurentiis; released by Universal Pictures.

Starring Anthony Hopkins (Dr. Hannibal Lecter), Edward Norton (Will Graham), Ralph Fiennes (Francis Dolarhyde), Harvey Keitel (Jack Crawford), Emily Watson (Reba McClane), Mary-Louise Parker (Molly Graham), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Freddy Lounds), Anthony Heald (Dr. Frederick Chilton), Ken Leung (Lloyd Bowman) and Frankie Faison (Barney Matthews).

Related posts:

• Manhunter (1986, Michael Mann), the director’s cut
• The Wolfman (2010, Joe Johnston)
• Miami Vice (2006, Michael Mann), the director’s cut
• Angel of Death (2009, Paul Etheredge)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Jonathan Demme)