Clarice

CBS | Release Date: February 11, 2021

3.2	USER SCORE Generally unfavorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

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PlanetvibzMay 14, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I can understand viewer disappointment in Clarice failing to reach the high directorial bar set by Michael Mann (Manhunter) and Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) in their respective outings with Thomas Harris material. These entries have come to be universally recognised as respective masterpieces in the genre so perhaps the comparison is slightly unfair (and the 2.6 User Score is a bit ridiculous IMHO). Within the censorship constraints of a network series, Clarice is perfectly bingeable entertainment with crisp (occasionally humorous) dialogue, likeable characters and a good sense of time and place (early 1990's).

It is, as others have commented, let down by overly long and wrought flashbacks experienced by the titular character. As artful as these scenes are, a 'less is more' editorial discipline would have better assisted the story. Curiously (and I suspect unintentionally), these scenes also tend to play into the misogynistic narrative that female emotional responses to adversity, compromise performance. In the Demme film, the sense of desolation, cold damp stone, winter dirt, physical and mental decay and perversion, was palpable and perfectly accompanied by a sparse and haunting soundtrack. In Clarice, there is a similar attempt to capture this atmosphere but it quickly becomes mismatched as the story arc moves from its gritty opening into the territory of a high level political conspiracy trope.
Despite the above, I think there is enormous scope for a second season which, with some taut gritty plotting and editing, can become a true network gem.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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LISOCHIKOTOSAFeb 15, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A solid pilot episode,it shows a very strong, though traumatized lead character who has a very resilient appeal. This is coupled with all the typical depictions of an FBI with egotistic, arrogant and misogynistic men. A good watch , excited to see whats next… Expand

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Tss5078Jan 31, 2022

Clarice is or rather was a mind-bending thriller that told the tale of Special Agent Clarice Starling's life in between the events of Silence of The Lambs and Hannibal. It was only on the air for a short time, because you didn't watch it! WhyClarice is or rather was a mind-bending thriller that told the tale of Special Agent Clarice Starling's life in between the events of Silence of The Lambs and Hannibal. It was only on the air for a short time, because you didn't watch it! Why didn't people watch it, three reasons. One, it doesn't feature Hannibal Lechter in any way (input collective groan here). Two, it was continuous, rather than episonic, meaning the season followed a single story, rather than having Clarice do battle with a different psychopath every week. and Three, the producers of the film did a series about Hannibal Lechter a few years back, that was weird, confusing, and basically awful, but they weren't the ones behind Clarice. Clarice was the brain child of Star Trek producer, Alex Kurtzman, and for all intense and purposes, it was Silence of The Lambs. Everything from the location headers to the music and lighting were exactly the same. The story literally takes place weeks after the incident with Buffalo Bill, and had it been successful, would have finished with the events leading up to Hannibal. The story begins with Clarice (Rebecca Breeds) being assigned to join a new task force, created by now Attorney General, Ruth Martin. Many believe that the young agent isn't ready to be part of such a high profile task force, and she's only there because she saved the A.G.'s daughter. Their first case is to investigate the discovery of three woman found brutally murdered and dumped in a local river. The lead agent of the task force, Paul Krendler (Michael Cudlitz) sees the case as straight forward, there is another psychopath on the loose, but Clarice disagrees and goes off on her own to investigate. This show has serious Silence of The Lambs vibes. The producers have gone to great lengths to make everything specific to the time period and film, even Rebecca Breeds, the actress who plays Clarice, looks like Jodie Foster and has a similar accent. As for the story, it obviously had to be toned down somewhat for network television, but it is every bit as chilling, mind-bending, and creepy as the film was. At first, I had my doubts, because after all wasn't this series completely about Hannibal? One would think so, until seeing this show. Similar to the Netflix series, Mindhunter, the focus of Clarice is on the profilers and the people who hunt serial killers, the only difference being, that they are actively hunting killers. I loved this series, from character development to a story that turned out to be much more complex that it originally looked. In my opinion Clarice was a better sequel to Silence of The Lambs than Hannibal was. Odd when you consider the fact that Hannibal Lechter plays no part in it. Rebecca Breeds leaves her soap opera life behind and has a career defining role. It's too bad she was only a kid when Hannibal was made, because I'd take her over Julianne Moore in a heartbeat. The story was great, the cast was excellent, I really would have loved to see where the series went, and learned more about how Clarice went from being the wide eye naive agent to the jaded woman she became in the sequel, but as is often the case with network television, I guess I'll never know.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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