Foster and Hopkins give star performances. Levine is creepy as Buffalo Bill. But, this movie simply did not impress me as much as the other two movies to hold the honor of winning the Oscar big five awards. The movie didn’t give me a sense of release, a sense of “Oh Wow” when Foster finds her way to Buffalo Bill’s house independent of her boss at the FBI. I didn’t understand the prevalence of close up shots of the actors’ faces. There are a lot of foreheads half cut off in this movie. I guess it heighten the suspense a bit to see the sweat and muscle twitches in the characters’ faces. But for a thriller it didn’t have any amazing twists that really make you appreciate the writing. At least I didn’t think so. The lambs, the moths, the sewing, the cannibalism were all supposed to be mysterious elements that suggest a creative and disturbing story, but it didn’t all add together to something greater than the parts. Dr. Hannibal Lecter making his escape was probably the most fascinating, terrifying, and shocking part.