This prequel to The Silence of the Lambs involved retired police profiler Will Graham coming out of retirement to catch the goofily named “Tooth Fairy” serial killer. It wasn’t as good as Silence of the Lambs as it lacked the sympathetic central performance of Jodie Foster, but it’s not anything like bad, and you could add Anthony Hopkins’ hammy Hannibal to practically any movie (cough! except Hannibal Rising) and make it reasonably entertaining. Just imagine a version of The King’s Speech with him playing the therapist; now that would be a good movie… although his interests in the human brain might make it rather shorter. Returning to Red Dragon, it’s worth noting that Ralph Fiennes did a sterling job as the main villain. Particularly creepy are the scenes between the “Tooth Fairy” and his oblivious love interest, who at least had the excuse of being literally blind to her boyfriend’s many, many deep-seated flaws…
