Cheap The Hunted (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) (Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielsen) (William Friedkin) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Hunted (Widescreen Edition)

PREDICTABLE PLOT VERY WELL EXECUTED
If you've seen the trailer for this film, you know it's basically about Tommy Lee Jones chasing down Benicio del Toro, a former special ops assassin-type (trained by Jones) who has gone more than a little "wacko" after seeing so much violence and senseless brutality (and engaged in some himself). We see delToro on special-assignment in Kosova, where he tracks down and slays (with a particularly nasty looking knife) a vicious mass-murderer. During the hunt for this man, Del Toro witnesses all sorts of atrocities (played out with some brutality for us to see) and this would seem to send him round the bend.

Some time later, he's being hunted by his "own people" and after leading them on a merry chase through the woods, he quickly and viciously dispatches them, now becoming "the hunted" in a major way, because the FBI brings Jones in to track him down.

Jones was the teacher (and father figure, we're told), but he never killed anyone himself. He's working deep in the wilderness of British Columbia, helping the native wolf population, and is reluctant to go. But he goes anyway (we're never told why) to the Portland, OR area to track Del Toro and bring him in.

Tracking seems to involve an uncanny ability to look at a piece of moss and know who was there, when, which way he was going and whether he's hiding up or down. Obviously Jones is brilliant tracker, but we get NO sense of how it's done...and we're not convinced anyone COULD do it.

Del Toro is caught, then escapes (of course) then is tracked down again (at his GIRLFRIEND'S house...we have no idea how he met this woman and how he could possibly have ingratiated himself with her...he's so dirty and crazy!). Anyway, he gets away again, leaving bodies in his wake, and finally he and Jones have their big showdown.

Have I spoiled it for you? I don't think so...the movie plays out SO predicatably. There are truly no surprises...if you've seen the trailer, you know where this movie is headed.

However, there are two major redeeming qualities that make the movie watchable:

1) The acting: Jones is always an amusing presence. He's toned the "humor" he usually brings to his portrayals and his a bit more vulnerable than usual. Physically, he's tough, but emotionally he's a mess, full of twitches, social shyness and, in close-up, a great sadness. His wrinkly, pock-marked face works well for him in this role. Del Toro is a bit iffier. He's so understated sometimes, you can't tell if he's acting that way on purpose or not. He's interesting to look at and has some charisma, but I would have liked to have seen a little more inner-torment. We're supposed to sympathize with him to some degree, but we don't really. Finally, Connie Nielsen, as the FBI agent in charge of the case (and in over her head, of course) is a nice presence in a VERY underwritten role. She can be SO good (Gladiator, One Hour Photo, and the only good performance in Mission to Mars) and in this movie, I couldn't help but think it would be nice if someone gave her a truly meaty starring role. She's a little older than current suspence favorites like Ashley Judd or Sandra Bullock (MURDER BY NUMBERS), but she has a believable gravitas (can't believe I just used that word!!).

2: The fights: Jones and Del Toro famously did all their own fight scenes and it shows. The camera gets nice and close on these guys and they really look like they're hurting each other and struggling with each other. In their big climactic fight, the director was smart enough to have no musical soundtrack...just the sounds of nature (rushing water) and their own grunts and yelps and heavy breathing. Although these aren't SPECTACULAR fights (a la THE MATRIX) they have a certain gritty reality. Lots of painful, bloody stabbing and such. If you're used to PG-13 violence...these stabbings earn their R rating.

Again, the movie is predictable in its plotting and writing, but its stars and stellar director William Friedkin probably get just about all they could out of it. If the plot sounds like your cup of tea, you could do worse than renting this movie.

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A very well acted & directed action/adventure flick.
Aaron Hallam (Benicio Del Toro), has went off the deep end using his special forces killing techniques to fillet hunters who kill with "irreverence" as some sort of social statement. Now it's up to the man who taught him L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones), a professional tracker and good ol' boy to bring him in.

The Hunted is simply a fun, sometimes silly non-stop action extravaganza low on story, dialogue, character development, and overall plot and heavy as a sumo wrestler on visceral, fast paced, beautifully choreographed and even more beautifully photographed action sequences.

Staring in Kosovo, in what can only be described as a vision of hell on Earth, we meet Hallam a special forces op/assassin who witness brutal mass murder at the hands of some tyrannical military force. After his mission is carried out Hallam returns to the world and is given the silver star. He then disappears into the woods and begins to carry out his crusade for animal rights, or so we're supposed to believe even though the details are hazy. There's also a moment where Hallam says he was set up, but that's quickly forgotten along with his animal rights stance and we're left to believe that the guy just snapped. Tommy Lee Jones is brought in as is the case in all these movies where only a retired agent/cop/tough guy can bring down this new threat, a threat he helped create. After a brief, very brief, ploy by a shady government official Bonham jumps aboard to help bring in "his boy." From there we're treated to chase after chase, hand to hand combat after knife fight and it's all breathtakingly captured by William Friedkin of The Exorcist fame. A man whose made a name for himself by filming amazing car chase sequences. So who better to call the shots on The Hunted, which is really one amazing chase sequence after another, than Billy himself who pulls everything off...amazingly!

You have to give the guy credit for not going the route seemingly all other action movies go these days when it comes to filming high octane action sequences. I'm talking about endless slow-mo's and irritating Matrix-style visuals. Here Friedkin keeps the action going at a fast pace. The many hand to hand combat sequences between Hallam and Bonham are done with so much realism you I almost found myself grunting and grimacing along with the actors. Bravo. As far as the story is concerned it's all pretty much window dressing, thin window dressing at that. Void of dialogue with all other characters (excluding Jones and Del Toro) there just for show. Although Jones and Del Toro, who are great actors, spend most of the movie running and fighting it still took much skill to play these rolls only relying on physical prowess and the ability to show emotion without speaking. Bravo again. There's an out of place theology lesson at the beginning of the film that's just silly. The story of Abraham and Isaac is employed simply for pretentious purposes I'm sure and carry little weight in the film itself. Hallam looked up to Bonham as a father and at one point Bonham refers to Hallam as "my boy." And of course Bonham is brought in by the government to essentially kill Hallam, but that's as far as the Bible lesson goes.

The Hunted has it's fair share of goof. I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times at how silly some things came off as being. Hallam's initial motive for killing hunters was simply ridiculous. Also I have to say that Tommy Lee Jones seems a bit old to be engaging in hand to hand combat with anyone. The final showdown is simply a one sided fight to what was ultimately a predictable finale that for a moment had me believing things were going to shift. Alas they didn't and the end seemed like a cop-out quickie to a vaguely symbolic finale.  

After watching The Hunted I came away smiling, superbly entertained, and recounting the numerous goofy moments. I also praised Benicio Del Toro for his great, creepy performance, the break neck action sequences and director Friedkin. But now in retrospect I find much sadness in the story and the characters. It's really about two people neither one good nor evil, but walking that thin red line between the two. The Hunted isn't a great film, but one that resonates in my mind causing a number of emotions. If you're an action buff, The Hunted will surely suffice if you're in the mood for a quick action fix. However, and it sounds weird saying (or rather typing) this, but I think there's much to be discussed about the characters, Hallam in particular. I've found much to empathize with both men and ultimately feel sorrow for them. Check it out!   

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This movie is nothing like The Fugitive
And that is nothing like sarcasm. Okay, it is. It's a lot like sarcasm, actually. Maybe if it weren't Tommy Lee Jones as the star it wouldn't be so obvious, but to me what it came down to was a tough, know-it-all smart guy chasing a resourceful criminal that apparently no one else can catch.

The Hunted seemed to have promise in the previews. Jones of course is usually good in everything (others might say this is because he typically plays the same character). And since starring in The Usual Suspects, Benicio Del Toro can really do no wrong. But The Hunted is a strange film, awkwardly left of center, as though it was aware of it's own triteness so it tries to overcompensate for it in random areas - violence, gore, and casting for example. Watching the movie I couldn't help but feel it was far beneath Del Toro's ability. He is certainly more gifted than to play the run-of-the-mill action star that he is in The Hunted.

The Hunted is a typical disciple-gone-wrong movie. Del Toro, a deeply covert special forces soldier who "doesn't really exist" is so battle scarred that he goes AWOL and kills some innocent people. Once the government realizes this, they send the man who trained him - Jones - to track him down and catch him. From here it unfolds in an extraordinarily predictable way. The audience is left to feel as though they are watching out of obligation rather than actual interest - 9/10 viewers could probably outline the rest of the story. To try to hold our interest then, the filmmakers include a deep amount of gore in the movie, much more than a typical action film would have. Whether it's photos of decapitations or showing us orphaned children stepping though bodies in Somalia trying to find their parents, The Hunted delivers some disturbing scenes

The problem is that the film doesn't really earn the right to do this. What I mean is, if I'm going to look at sickening images then it really needs to be a good movie otherwise. I'm not going to look at it for the sake of looking at it, and unfortunately that's all The Hunted has to offer.

I advise avoiding this film despite the promising cast. You'll just be waiting for plot twists that never come and hoping Benicio gets back on track in his next role choice.