R, 121 min.
Director: Michael Mann
Writers: Michael Mann,
Thomas Harris (novel “Red Dragon”)
Starring: William Petersen,
Dennis Farina, Kim Greist, Tom Noonan, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Stephen Lang,
David Seaman, Benjamin Hendrickson
I’ve been meaning to get
back to Michael Mann’s 1986 crime drama “Manhunter” ever since watching NBC’s
“Hannibal” early this summer. Of all the Hannibal Lecter related movies, this
is the one that series made me think of the most. Perhaps that because the
central character here is Will Graham, the same as in the TV series. Of course
Edward Norton played Graham in the remake of this as “Red Dragon” a decade and
a half later. But it is William Petersen’s Graham that seems more like the one
presented by Hugh Dancy in the television series.
What ultimately led me back
to this film, however, was the announcement yesterday of the death of Dennis
Farina, who created the role of Jack Crawford in this film. It is well known
that Farina was a former Chicago policeman when he became an actor. He’s played
more than his fair share of cops, and criminals for that matter.
The director of “Manhunter”,
Michael Mann, had much to do with the launch of Farina’s acting career. Mann
cast Farina in his very first role, in the Chicago-based crime thriller
“Thief”. He was originally hired as a police consultant for the film, but Mann
ended up giving him a small role. Mann then cast him as the lead in his “Crime
Story” television series and as mob boss Albert Lombard in several episodes of
the popular “Miami Vice”.
Jack Crawford would prove to
be his first leading film role in “Manhunter”, the often overlook launch of the
iconic characters from the Thomas Harris Hannibal novels. He quickly became a
staple actor for crime pictures and even enjoyed a surprisingly successful run
of comedic performances. His final television role would be as the father of
Zooey Deschanel’s romantic interest Jake Johnson in the hit FOX comedy “New
Girl”. His character was killed
off for a uniquely funny episode well before the actor’s death.
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