I agree it's a little heavy. And not because of the star characters so much as the weird little twerp that kidnapped the girl. He's seriesly creepy. But the repartee between Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins is gripping stuff... both are excellent actors.
It's like Fargo... there's terrific characters in it and it's worth seeing, but you forget how violent it is!
I agree...the chemistry between the two was great!
I believe it's one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. I never saw Hannibal, but I heard it wasn't as good...and did they make Red Dragon?