Foster is typically soft and stoic as the FBI agent in way over her head; Scott Glenn is his usual leathery self as her superior officer; and Hopkins is simply petrifying.
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:52
Fresh:50
Rotten:2
Average Rating:8.5/10
Consensus: Director Jonathan Demme's smart, taut thriller teeters on the edge between psychological study and all-out horror, and benefits greatly from stellar performances by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins will likely be forever associated with their roles in this bone-chilling masterpiece, based on the novel by Thomas Harris and directed by Jonathan Demme. FBI... Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins will likely be forever associated with their roles in this bone-chilling masterpiece, based on the novel by Thomas Harris and directed by Jonathan Demme. FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Foster) is sent by her supervisor (Scott Glenn) to interview ferociously intelligent serial killer Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lechter (Hopkins) at his cell in a Maryland mental hospital. The FBI hopes Lechter can provide insight into the mind of killer-at-large, Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), whose current abductee happens to be the daughter of a senator. Intrigued by Clairice, Lechter demands information about her personal life and in exchange for clues, and the two begin to form a strangely intimate connection, with a girl's life hanging in the balance. Starling is gradually revealed as a woman struggling out of her own darkness, bound to aid the dysfunctional males around her on their own paths of transformation, liberation, and destruction. This is a film of brilliant and disturbing beauty that transcends its B-movie origins (though it does honor them with a cameo appearance by Roger Corman). Its enduring influence has led to a slew of similarly dark-toned serial killer films, and a sequel, HANNIBAL (2001). [More]
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Buzz Kilman, Brooke Smith, Diane Baker, Kasi Lemmons, Charles Napier, Tracey Walter, Frankie Faison
Director: Jonathan Demme
Director: Jonathan Demme
Screenwriter: Ted Tally
Story: Thomas Harris
Composer: Howard Shore
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Reviews for Silence of the Lambs
For all the unbridled savagery on display, what is shrewd, significant and finally hopeful about Silence of the Lambs is the way it proves that a movie can be mercilessly scary and mercifully humane at the same time.
Very few movies have ever won the five top Oscars: Best Actor, Actress, Screenplay, Director, and Picture.
Suffice it to say there is much to admire here but beware if you are at all squeamish.
Is it a modern masterpiece? Did it deserve to sweep the four big Academy Awards? Is it one of the best thrillers ever made? A definitive maybe to all three questions.
A smart, restrained entertainment, it doesn't splash around in blood and hysteria.
There is little doubt that the most memorable aspect of The Silence of the Lambs is Anthony Hopkins' incomparable performance as Lecter.
The Silence of the Lambs is a psychological thriller of the highest order, and well deserving of the unusual Oscar nod for Best Picture, never before bestowed upon a film like this.
Adroitly directed by Jonathan Demme, it lurks about the exquisite edge of horror, before finally leaping into an unholy maw of bloody bones and self-awareness.
The popularity of Jonathan Demme's movie is likely to last as long as there is a market for being scared.
The collaborative effort of Demme, Foster, Hopkins, and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto in The Silence of the Lambs has resulted in something very special to anyone who loves to be scared and challenged by a movie.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) is one of the most taut, suspenseful, psychological thrillers ever produced.
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