The Hunted Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)March 13th, 2003
THE HUNTED (2003) 1 star out of 4. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro and Connie Nielsen. Director of photography Caleb Deschanel. Written by David Griffiths & Peter Griffiths and Art Monterastelli. Directed by William Friedkin. Running time: 94 minutes. Rated R.
The time and effort wasted reviewing a movie like The Hunted could be put to better use: Cleaning downspouts or undergoing a root canal immediately come to mind.
William Friedkin used to be a good director. Remember The French Connection or even The Exorcist.
In The Hunted, Friedkin misuses two Academy Award-winning actors, Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro in a cliché fest of ultra violence and male testosterone.
Plus the movie is an insult to any serviceman who fought for his country. Del Toro's Aaron Hallam, a special forces soldier, successfully carries out a covert mission to assassinate a brutal Serbian commander during the war in Kosovo.
For his valor, Hallam is awarded the Silver Star.
Jump ahead a few years and Hallam is running wild in the dense forests of the Northwest randomly killing unwary hunters.
We are led to believe that he is such a finely-honed killing machine that he can no longer stop himself.
A specialist is called in to track him down, none other than L.T. Bonham (Jones), Hallam's teacher.
The Hunted is Filmmaking 101. It is too easy to stay at least five moves ahead of the filmmakers. The movie offers no surprises, no twists or revelations.
It's just a paycheck for two actors who spend most of their time beating the heck out of each other, without inflicting enough damage so one or the other has to go to the hospital and impede the film's flow.
Some impressive stunt work keeps your interest, but the use of stuntmen for many of the brutal hand-to-hand combat sequences between the two stars is quite evident.
Even some beautiful cinematography by the masterful Caleb Deschanel cannot compensate for this 94-minute waste of celluloid.
The Hunted serves no purpose, offers no message, has no redeeming qualities. It only does a disservice to the men who bravely wore their country's uniform.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on movies.
Bloom's reviews also appear on the Web at the Rottentomatoes Web site, www.rottentomatoes.com and at the Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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