Hannibal Rising
Director: Peter Webber
Stars: Gaspard Ulliel, Rhys Ifans, Li Gong
Studio: Weinstein Company, The

In the ultimate tug of war, Silence of the Lambs was both one of my favorite books as well as one of my favorite movies. Yet, as the franchise has continued on, it’s also continued downward. Even though no sequel could ever match up to the first installation, this pre-prequel looks to be the bottom of the barrel, a fact that has only minorly tempered my enthusiasm for the opening. Regardless of the mass media’s treatment of this film (and it hasn’t been kind), I’ll still be in the theatre tonight as the fourth film is released. Everyone knows Hannibal Lecter. The character and story created by Thomas Harris is known throughout the world for its’ ferocity as well as its’ macabre delights. And yet, the bar was set far too high with the original release and the original cast. How can you ask an actor to portray a young Hannibal when two major forces aren’t working in his favor- namely that the character was so well developed from the inception and that Sir Anthony Hopkins, the undisputed king of the screen, was the first to take on the role. In essence, it’s a lose-lose scenario. Regardless, the young actor Ulliel was cast and almost no one outside his family and friends is happy with his portrayal or that he was even cast in the first place.

This prequel is based on what turned Hannibal into the Hannibal we know and fear. His life before fava beans and chianti and why those two seemingly normal dinner accompaniments have become a modern sign of mental disturbance place this young Lecter squarely in the hands of the Nazis during the second World War and the years following the German occupation. Lecter, in this prequel, must rectify the loss of his parents to a grisly death and his sister to a very, um, hungry group of Nazi sympathizers as well as his subsequent move to Paris and the feeling that he must find and avenge her death. And in that, Hannibal becomes the Hannibal the Cannibal that we all love to quote and would never want to show up at our doorstep for a dinner.

Between the reviews this film has garnered and my personal affection for the series, you won’t find much middle ground. I just hope Hannibal doesn’t become that muted in this next installment.

Norbit
Director: Brian Robbins
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton
Studio: DreamWorks SKG

If you’ve seen the trailers, which at last count only four people in this country hadn’t, you’ll already have surmised that this is the Nutty Professor in drag. Of course, with Eddie Murphy leading the way, who’s to know if the Nutty Professor was the one actually in drag, but that’s for another cold and close-to-snowing morning. In fact, from the rumor mill, this film has more going against it than a decision by Tom Arnold to do a full monty pictorial. The leading lady almost quit the filming, the two parent companies releasing this film had to chop it up just to get it into the PG-13 rating and the plot looks thinner than only one of the Olsen twins.

Given the fact that Eddie Murphy likes to play at least two characters in every one of his movies these days, it’s not a surprise that Eddie is engaged to Eddie in this film. Yet, I don’t quite understand the message coming from this film- if there is a message at all. Murphy, playing what seems to be a fairly nerdy guy gets engaged to a big as a house woman and then falls for the woman of his dreams. Let’s break that last sentence down for a second- in that one tag line, the film has slapped in the face people with weight problems, nerds and people who don’t see someone’s outward appearance as the only part of love. Also, isn’t he the one getting married and then lying to get out of it? (This film seemingly speaks to Hollywood marriages that last as long as a Junior Mint.) I don’t quite see the humor in this film. Regardless, someone will and it won’t be me.

Breaking and Entering
Director: Anthony Minghella
Stars: Jude Law, Robin Wright Penn, Vera Farmiga
Studio: Weinstein Company, The

Due to it’s Indie release, this may or may not be hitting the screens in Memphis (you really can’t ever tell until you walk into the theatre and see the damn thing) and whether or not it does, it doesn’t diminish the fact that the casting and storyline have a lot of questions surrounding it. First off, casting Jude Law as an adulterer is, well, good for publicity. Second, it’s got that investigative/ action/ drama genre going for it, which is nice, but who knows if they can pull it off. Remember, there are few genres harder to pull off than this one due to the fact that everyone who goes to see these kinds of films wants to be smarter than the script. Apparently, that’s not going to be too tough in this film. The direction and the writing have gotten less than good reviews and the acting has only seen a slight slide up the scale as to what they bring to the film.

After an architect gets broken in to, he plays it off as just another one of life’s little messes until a series of random events start to point in the direction of a conspiracy. As these pieces of information begin to add up, the man begins to re-evaulate his life and the decisions he’s made along the way. Knowing some of the background material, let’s just say the film will deal with former lovers and the lengths they will go to be vindictive about love lost (or at least love cheated on).