Clarice (2021) User Reviews

Enjoyable

[jdgtc1 · 7/10 · 16 February 2021]

I found the show enjoyable. For me it evoked memories of reading Thomas Harris novels and the classic original film.

I could care less how it compares to Hannibal on NBC. The negative reviews and the legion of hate piled on anything positive said about this show, is utterly ridiculous, one episode in. The Hannibal fan boys need to go away, so the real audience can give this show's potential the chance it deserves.

A fair start...slow burn but has potential.

[linda-nairn10 · 7/10 · 12 February 2021]

Clarice is an entertaining watch as long as you don't sit there comparing the main lead actress with the portrayal of the character by the legendary Jodie Foster in Silence Of The Lambs. Just enjoy it for what it is, the main actress does a fine job in the role. Although the pilot episode was not that gripping, I enjoyed it and I really feel that this series could well get better as it goes along, I will defitely keep watching it.

Not the crown jewel of the franchise, but watchable.

[midworld_traveller · 7/10 · 12 March 2021]

So if you forget the legend upon which this show is built, you are left with a good proceedural Gvt. Agency show, which is rare in these days of formulaic episodic cop propaganda; yes, they're borrowing heavily from the legend just by making the show, but it does make for a certain interesting undercurrent to everything.

The cast works well, the script isn't nearly as bad as the reviews suggest, nor is the production quality in any way lacking (I think everyone was hoping for film quality attention being paid to every detail, which isn't feasible, unless you're watching Hannibal, which raised the bar to an astonishing degree). A few less moth flashbacks, and we're good. My only strong complaint is the butchery done to Catherine Martin's character, and I don't know where that storyline is going, so I'm trying to reserve judgement.

Had to laugh at Clarice needing a better psychiatrist.

Can we bring back Hannibal, please?

[Darwinskid · 12 February 2021]

And by that I am of course referring to the excellent series featuring Mads Mikkelsen's amazing portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. That series had great style, fantastic atmosphere, and stellar directing, editing, and acting. They planned to tell the ultimate Hannibal Lecter story but only were able to make three seasons out of a seven season plan. So, here we have a Clarice Starling series that had been in the works for years but didn't get the train running till now.

So the premiere - Meh. Rebecca Breeds makes a very good Clarice but nothing else is up to her level. The cinematography isn't bad but the atmosphere is lacking, the characters are none too memorable, and the storyline isn't attention grabbing enough. I give it about a season at least.

Keeps getting better and better 10/10 👍👍

[duckboy-94171 · 6/10 · 12 March 2021]

I had reservations when this show was announced because doing a TV show they would have very large shoes to fill but fortunately they nailed it, I'm very excited to see where it goes so please renew it & give it a chance. Too many shows these days get the axe before they are able to prove themselves.

[6.5] Erase Clarice and that would be near OK

[cjonesas · 6/10 · 27 August 2021]

An average series with its biggest issue being completely unimpressive with a very poor screenplay, which destroyed everything in its path (acting, score, moments...). Each episode was a pain of its own to follow, with fillers being the crown idea of the brilliant writers.

They even didn't bother to renew it for a second season to strengthen it, give it a semblance of a closure and more exploration on Clarice's so interesting therapy.

Super Good!

[mrmikeme · 9/10 · 21 February 2021]

Always wanted to know what happened after Clarice killed buffalo Bill. Great show with awesome protentional. Hope it lasts!

Pretty good

[kat217 · 7/10 · 12 February 2021]

I had my doubts but after watching the first episode I am totally on board. I was apprehensive because I just wanted another season of Hannibal but Clarice has so much potential. The first episode is very compelling and you really get a close look at how trauma affects different people. The acting is amazing, great performances all around. The references and mentions of Silence of the Lambs are really cool too. I love how much of Buffalo Bill we are seeing. It's not as great as Hannibal but it's definitely great.

Really liked it

[virginiacottrell · 9/10 · 13 February 2021]

Ignore the haters, watch it yourself. I thought it was intriguing and suspenseful. I had no expectations and didn't expect to see Hannibal, its just the first episode after all. Looking forward to the rest of the season.

it is not 'Hannibal' level but it is reasonably good

[torijillings · 7/10 · 13 February 2021]

As only one episode has aired this is a tentative review. Firstly it actually better than I was expecting given the fact they are unable to reference Dr Hannibal Lecter due to distribution rights, resulting in a show which resembles a crappy sequel after the rights have been sold, minus the main character. However, this is not the case and the show does appear to be a stand alone in its own right. The misogyny is indicative of the time and I understand critics' assertion that although the script references this it misses an opportunity to flesh this out but I am hopeful this will change over the course of the season. Clarice does come across as a bit of a victim at the moment however, in that she is portrayed as being far weaker emotionally than I would like, but at the same time this is set one year after the events of Silence of the Lambs and so it gets a little rope here, given that she would be quite rightly traumatised to certain degree. It could be a little darker but that is more to do with my own preferences ('Hannibal' was great for this).

Went from good to boring

[ntbenzer · 2/10 · 2 April 2021]

THE FIRST TWO EPISODES WERE GOOD AND INTERESTING. Then I watched the next four and the show turned into a boring mess. Show had potential but now I would not even call it mediocre.

Clarice is a great touchstone to Silence of the Lambs, and it stands alone

[scandallk · 8/10 · 9 March 2021]

Silence of the Lambs was a character study and thriller that was hauntingly directed. 'Clarice' is a superb homage to the original and to the title character. It picks up one year after the Buffalo Bill case and it addresses the PTSD that still impacts the young Clarice, who is played by the excellent Rebecca Breeds. She nails the part, which is daunting considering that Jodie Foster was iconic in the role. She is subtle in showing the character's enormous strength, deft at trying to politically maneuver through the male dominated FBI power structure while showing her brilliance, and honest in showing Clarice's human vulnerabilities.

The directing is way above average for a TV 'procedural'. It has an art-house feel. Maybe too many flashbacks. Some of the male leads are stereotypical and too overbearing, but we are only 4 episodes in. Hoping for more development for those characters, but TV is longform.

The show has been canceled because they didn't stick to the book!

[duckboy-94171 · 6/10 · 25 June 2021]

The reason this show has now been canceled is because they changed her life's story line to something it wasn't. She never had a mother or a sibling and her cop father was a good guy not a bad guy. When writer's try to fix something that's not broken they ruin everything and that's why as of June 24th it's officially canceled. Damn shame!!!

We'll see ...

[JosephFabeetz · 4/10 · 12 February 2021]

This could be a decent crime drama ... chasing serial killers worked for Criminal Minds a long time and this is a character we know. Writers have to tone down tension shtick with her boss. It's overdone, implausible, and distracting. This tedious relationship will kill the show. That said, egotistical bullies in the FBI may not be off the mark.

Stunningly bad writing

[random-70778 · 2 March 2021]

Wow. The writing on this, in terms of plot and dialogue is cringeworthy throughout. The acting as well is simply flat.

Not A Bad Start

[he88 · 7/10 · 13 February 2021]

I watched Clarice tonight. So far I'm impressed. This is a year after she saved the Congresswoman's daughter and is apparently going through PTSD. That woman is now the Attorney General so when a couple of women turn up dead and looking like victims of serial killers she brings in Clarice.....Who really just wants to remain at her desk job. She's on a team with a old timer who holds resentment over the fact that she, a rookie, found Buffalo Bill when he couldn't....So now he's being a dick....

There's a lot of darkness in this one, but so far the writing seems pretty good. This actress doesn't look like Jody Foster, but when she speaks with a Appalachian accent she sounds like Jody did in the original movie. So far I like this one.

Worth pursuing

[darenwheeler · 7/10 · 14 February 2021]

The problem with launching a television series based on an well-known film, is people arrive at it with preconceived ideas. Major complaints and reviews seem to focus on the fact that they can't believe that Clarice Starling is suffering from a post traumatic stress disorder after taking down the serial killer Buffalo Bill. According to them the outcome of the silence of the lambs, most to give Starling strength and self belief that follows on in the subsequent films. But of course her PTSD is very believable and very relevant. None of the reviews seem to think about the affects the film had on its major victim, the senators daughter Catherine. One perfectly relevant moment focuses on Buffalo Bills last, near, victim Catherine. It's perfectly believable but she is now obsessed with her weight and finding it hard to get over the trauma from the film. It's also just as believable but Clarice is also struggling look at past trauma of catching and killing a serial killer, straight out of training. There's nothing here that isn't completely believable. Add the odious Paul Krendler from Silence and Hannibal and you get a perfect villain to add done spice to matters. Pilot episode are notoriously to pull off. You've got 45 minutes to an hour to crab your interest and lay the foundations of a 9 to 24 episode run? Clarice is solid enough, nice enough subtlety and nuance to give you hope that this will be a solid behavioural crime thriller show. Don't go into this expecting a follow-on to be Oscar-winning film. If you're expecting Oscar-winning performances, from Oscar winning actors, you're going to be sorely disappointed... But then again you always would be. This is television, it's an ongoing, procedural episodic crime drama and in that aspect Clarice shows tremendous promise.

I'm in!

[gnc6971 · 10/10 · 21 February 2021]

Wow! I saw a whole bunch of weak reviews on this show and I don't get it. This is just based on the first episode and I found it to be intense, gripping, and I'm in for the season and see how it goes from there. My girlfriend is a huge fan of police procedural shows and I watched this so we could chat about them afterwards, and based on this first episode I'll say we will be discussing this show regularly! Looking forward to the rest of the season!

Calm down the cinematography and it's not bad

[kymberly80 · 7/10 · 14 February 2021]

The video production is way over the top and stylized but the actual story wasn't bad. I realize CBS has about 11 variations of this type of show but I like this type of show. To me not everything has to be prestige television for it to still be an interesting show to watch and I have always loved the Silence of the Lambs offerings so I will give this time to develop and see what happens.

I am beginning to smell a great recipe slowly simmering on the stove with Clarice

[Ed-Shullivan · 9/10 · 12 February 2021]

Be patient folks. All good recipes are cooked slowly and we have to wait with great anticipation and some hunger pains as the smell of a good dinner wafts through our households before we get to taste any of it.

I for one liked this the pilot episode that aired on February 11th, 2021, which was used to outline who FBI agent Clarice Starling (Rebecca Breeds) is, with snippets exposed of what she previously went through with her first big capture and kill of serial killer Wild Bill before she is called back into front line action by her new boss Ruth Martin (Jayne Atkinson).

Clarice is struggling being in the field once again, and she has little trust of any of her fellow FBI agents, and especially her direct Supervisor, Paul Krendler, (Michael Cudlitz) who tells her in no uncertain terms, speak only when you are told to speak. It doesn't take long in this pilot episode for the bodies to start piling up and a new whodunit series is born. If viewers are expecting from this TV series as great a film as the 1991 film Silence Of the Lambs, then don't bother watching.

This one hour TV series has that required suspense, mystery and good writing that I believe will allow it to grow on us just like a new favorite home cooked meal that smells good and tastes even better.

I give it a delicious 9 out of 10 IMDB rating

Not quite the place I belong.

[southdavid · 6/10 · 23 March 2022]

I may have said in my reviews before that I really don't like those standard procedural shows that endlessly clutter the schedule, and there were moments in the early running of "Clarice" that made me wonder if the iconic character had been reduced to one of those. It wasn't the case though, as the 13 episode season is primary based on one case. There were other issues that stopped me from really loving it though.

With her high-profile rescue of Catherine Martin (Marnee Carpenter) from Buffalo Bill making her the FBI's most famous face, Clarice Starling (Rebecca Breeds) joins VICAP, a task force designed to capture violent criminals, led by Paul Krendler (Michael Cudlitz). Starling is immediately at odds with Krendler, when she publicly suggests that two bodies found close together might not be the work of a new serial killer, but instead a more sinister and insidious crime, made to look like that.

What did I like? I thought that Rebecca Breeds was alright as the title character, even if the accent is occasionally a bit much. She imbues some of Jodie Fosters performances without copying it wholesale. I liked the rest of the VICAP team too, including Lucca De Oliveria, Nick Sandow and Kal Penn. I thought the overall case they dealt with was interesting, if, perhaps, lacking a bit in genuine surprises along the way.

I do think that there were way too many subplots though. Starling has trauma from both her recent involvement with Bill and something from her childhood. Her roommate, played by Devyn A Tyler, has a storyline about systemic racism in the FBI. Krendler is going through a bitter divorce. Catherine Martin is not coping since her rescue and her mother, Ruth - played by Jayne Atkinson - is a senator both supporting VICAP and trying to maintain some level of support for her increasingly distant daughter. Nick Sandow's character has a missing sister. Tomas Esquivel is an ex-military sniper, struggling to deal with the things he's done. It's not that any of these stories are particularly bad, it's more that there are only 13 episodes and each one diverts time away from the character I'm most interested in, and the case they're working.

I made it through the series, and it was fine, though, If I'm honest, the fact there won't be a second season wasn't particularly disappointing. It you must watch one TV series, based on this property then I'm afraid that "Hannibal" in spite of the ending, is far superior.

Not sure this show will recover

[grlym-46849 · 5/10 · 3 April 2021]

Too much drama and slow plots. Occasional greatness is not worth the other 44 minutes of the show.

The show is being dragged on the coat tails of the original, solely off the merit of the original.

Best new show

[mmmmmbarycky · 10/10 · 19 February 2021]

Great acting, interesting storyline and a terrific readaptation of an American classic. A weekly show that is provocative and very entertaining- if you haven't watched it you should!

Factually incorrect

[robertsonjrcurtis · 6/10 · 10 May 2021]

The latest episode was factually incorrect. In a therapy session, Clarice states that her mom sent her away after her dad was killed and she was talking about siblings. If you recall, Clarice's mother died before her father was killed in the robbery. Clarice is an only sibling and due to being an orphan she had to live with her cousin on the sheep & horse ranch. She tried to run away with a lamb to save it from being butchered, hence the name Silence of the Lambs.

The spinoff you never asked for

[lizshotter · 3/10 · 14 February 2021]

I was really looking forward to watching this, as I loved the Hannibal series and original film. There's no doubt that it was an ambitious feat to try to shine the spotlight on clarice, but it falls at every hurdle. The heavy handed misogyny, the flat delivery of a tired story, the lack of any interesting or unique characters all serve to diminish any potential this series had. I always wonder why film makers don't just put their efforts into something original instead of sitting on the coat tails of classic cinema. It would have stood a chance if we weren't perpetually reminded of the film and other successful series. As it is, this doesn't hold a candle to them and comes across as trying way too hard.