Manhunter

A burned out federal agent (William Petersen) specializing in serial killers seeks the aid of his previous target, Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox), in capturing a new killer who appears select his targets at random.

Manhunter was made too early in writer-director Michael Mann’s career. It would be almost a decade before he hit his stride with his magnum opus, Heat, though the stylistic seeds of that cops and robbers epic are visible here. The problem is that it’s too uneven.

The cast, even devoid of Anthony Hopkins, is great. William Petersen plays what’s essentially a younger, less nerdy, version of the character he later made famous on his C.S.I. television series, Dennis Farina is perfect as his boss, Brian Cox is suitably menacing as Lecktor, and Joan Allen plays a very convincing blind woman.

Yet, more than once, the film slips from slick thriller into routine genre entry. It’s most apparent in the ending, which feels pulled right out of action-thriller 101, and undermines much of the film’s credibility. At its best, Manhunter is a gritty, realistic thriller shot in a glossy, slick style, and set to pulsating soundtrack. At its worse, it’s a stagey, artificial music video posing as a police procedural.

Even so, for fans of Mann, it’s a must-see. Watching the film you can see his evolution as a filmmaker, though, given the story’s potential, don’t be surprised if you come away wishing he’d made this a bit later in his career.