Little sparrow
Little sparrow
Precious, fragile little thing...
Little sparrow
Little sparrow
Fly so high...
And feel no pain...
Ever since the Jame Gumb case in The Silence of the Lambs, FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling has seen her career and reputation take a terrible beating. Rather than be an integral part of Behavioral Science, which was her primary ambition when she entered the Academy years ago, she has ended up in the Purgatory between the ATF and the DEA.
She was put there due to the conniving of Deputy Asst. Attorney General Paul Krendler, who has borne a festering grudge ever since she solved the "Buffalo Bill" murders. To make matters worse, his attempt to bury the hatchet by making her his mistress was met with a calm "Go home to your wife," furthering his desire to drum her out of the Bureau altogether.
As in SOTL, the one person who believes in her, the one person who truly loves her, is escaped serial killer Hannibal Lecter. But Clarice has so hardened herself, is so locked into the role of government drone/scapegoat that she will not allow herself to see beyond her own problems. Nor will she allow herself to get in touch with her inner Hannibal, the homicidal rage that has possessed her since the murder of her policeman father when she was a child.
What hurts the film most is that Clarice is embodied not by two-time Oscar-winner Jodie Foster, who played Clarice in SOTL, but by Magnolia and Boogie Nights actress Julianne Moore. Unlike Ms. Foster, Julianne Moore brings no real vulnerability and sympathy to the once-idealistic, now embittered Clarice.
Despite their past work together in Surviving Picasso, there is no chemistry between Moore and Sir Anthony Hopkins this time around. Not in their cell phone exchanges, not in their reunion in Mason Verger's barn, and definitely not during, and after, the dinner scene that should have cemented their relationship.
All the film did was leave things open for a sequel, besides provide some beautiful music by Hans Zimmer and a splendid-as-always performance by Hopkins. Let's hope the next time around, all the wrongs that took place in Hannibal will be righted.
Are you listening, Jodie Foster?
Lyrics to Little Sparrow by Dolly Parton.
Is this Clarice...?
Well, hello, Clarice...
I'm afraid you've caught me at an awkward moment...
...please forgive me...?
See ya 'round...
...an old friend...
Okey-Dokey...
...here we go...
