The Rundown

Infobox_Film
name = The Rundown


caption = "The Rundown" movie poster
director = Peter Berg
producer = Vince McMahon
Marc Abraham
Bill Corless
Karen Glasser
Kevin Misher
writer = Screenplay:
R.J. Stewart
James Vanderbilt
Story:
R.J. Stewart
starring = The Rock
Seann William Scott
Christopher Walken
Rosario Dawson
Ewen Bremner
Jon Gries
music = Harry Gregson-Williams
distributor = Universal Pictures
Columbia Pictures
cinematography = Tobias A. Schliessler
editing = Richard Pearson
released = September 26, 2003
runtime = 104 min.
language = English
Portuguese
budget =$85 million
gross = Domestic:
$47,726,342
Worldwide:
$80,916,492
mpaa rating =PG-13
imdb_id = 0327850

"The Rundown" (also known as "Welcome to the Jungle") is a 2003 action comedy film starring The Rock and Sean William Scott about a bounty hunter who must head for the Amazon Rainforest to retrieve his employer's renegade son. It was directed by Peter Berg.

Plot

Beck (The Rock) is a professional bag man who chooses not to use guns in his work due to a previous bad experience. He is hired by his boss, Walker, to go to get Walker's son, Travis (Sean William Scott), from the Amazon jungle. Beck wants out of the business, and Walker agrees to make this his last job before Beck retires and opens his own restaurant. He heads down to the small South American town of "Helldorado" to find Travis and retrieve him from the mess he is in. The town is run by Hatcher (Christopher Walken) who owns the town and the people cannot afford not to work for him due to his monopoly.

Beck quickly captures Travis, but Travis escapes with the help of Hatcher. Travis is looking for an ancient golden artifact known as the "Gato" that, if the townspeople acquired it, would allow them to buy their freedom from Hatcher, which is why Hatcher wants the Gato and wants Travis free to find it for him. Travis flees into the jungle but is again captured by Beck, and after Travis fails to talk his way out of capture, they in turn run afoul of a group of rebels led by Mariana (Rosario Dawson), a town clerk with whom Travis is infatuated. Beck agrees to let Travis find the Gato for Mariana before he takes him home, and with the assistance of the rebels, the three find the location of the Gato and retrieve it.That night Hatcher and his men find the rebel camp and kill all the rebels save for Travis,Beck,and Mariana.Travis is eager to donate the artifact to a museum despite his greedy tendencies, but Mariana incapacitates Travis and Beck with a toxic fruit and takes it, unwilling to allow Travis to keep it.

In the morning, Beck returns to the airstrip to take Travis home, but finds out that Mariana has been captured by Hatcher. Reluctant to leave after his agreement with Mariana, Beck returns to town with Travis. After learning of Beck's return, Hatcher locks down the town and sends his men out to kill him. After being bested by Hatcher's gunmen, Beck reluctantly takes up his own guns and reveals himself as a skilled marksmen, effortlessly dispatching Hatcher's men and freeing Mariana. Hatcher confronts Beck amidst the townspeople and is shot when he attempts to attack Mariana. Agreeing to leave the town, Hatcher attempts to walk away but collapses dead. Beck and Travis return to Walker while Mariana and the townspeople are left the Gato. With Walker, Beck watches as he is paid and Travis is hit and ridiculed by his father. As a sort of toast to his last job, Beck feeds Walker and his men the same toxic fruit (konlobos...with a 'K') that Mariana fed to him, and they collapse in paralysis as an overjoyed Travis leaves with Beck, grateful but still irritating him. The film ends with Beck muttering "I'm gonna kill you" after Travis fakes a punch at him.

Cast

* The Rock as Beck
* Seann William Scott as Travis Alfred Walker
* Rosario Dawson as Mariana
* Christopher Walken as Cornelius Bernard Hatcher
* Ewen Bremner as Declan
* Jon Gries as Harvey
* Ernie Reyes, Jr. as Manito

Reception

"The Rundown" was warmly received by both critics and moviegoers. This was the first WWE Film to ever be able to be produced outside of production. The film holds a "fresh" 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. Noted film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 1/2 stars out of 4, saying "The jungle locations give the film a texture and beauty that underlines the outsized characters." Despite the positive acclaim, the modest box office take for the film makes the likelihood of a sequel possible but not entirely likely. Director Peter Berg has expressed interest in making a sequel to the film but notes that "no one can ever get motivated and focused enough to do it." ^{[http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=37397]}

Trivia

*The film's working titles were "Helldorado" and "Welcome to the Jungle", both of which are referenced in the film. After arriving in the Amazon, Beck passes a sign that reads "Helldorado", and in the jungle, Travis says "Welcome to the jungle!" It kept the title "Welcome to the Jungle" in some territories, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, South Korea, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France (as "Bienvenue dans la jungle"), Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong, Brazil (as "Bem Vindo à Selva"), and Poland (as "Witajcie w Dżungli"). In Mexico, the film is known as "El Tesoro del Amazonas" ("The Treasure of the Amazon") and in Russia as "Сокровища Амазонки" ("The Treasures of the Amazon").
*The film was planned to be shot in the Amazon, but after the crew got robbed in the jungle, they decided to shoot it in Hawaii instead.
*The football clips shown when Beck is describing the offensive linemen in the club are not NFL clips, but rather clips from Vince McMahon's XFL.
*Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a cameo at the start of the film. The Rock's character is walking into a nightclub about to confront a group of professional football players. Schwarzenegger passes by and says to The Rock, "Have fun". Arnold Schwarzenegger was campaigning in the California gubernatorial election during the filming of the film.
*During the fight with the football players, The Rock delivers a Rock Bottom to one of the players, his finishing move as a wrestler.
*The name of the fish Beck calls a "penis-eating minnow" is the candirú.
*Baboons are Old World monkeys and are native to Africa, not the Amazon. This is also a pun on The Rock's catchphrases that mentioned "monkeys".
*The poem "Do not go gentle into that good night" is referenced multiple times, both quoted by Declan and by the tattoos on the insides of Beck's arms.
*Beck being a chef is also another pun of The Rock.
* Recently The Rock's character "Beck" was named 6 out of 10 best movie bounty hunters by Empire Magazine.
*A special feature on the DVD is called "Appetite for Destruction". Guns N' Roses' debut album "Appetite for Destruction" features the song "Welcome to the Jungle", the original title of the film.
*Declan enters into the town while playing a Scottish tune called "Highland Laddie". When it shows him strike up again, his fingers are not in sync with the playing or in any actual note position.
*The film was originally shot and conceived with an "R" rating in mind. Most original scenes (i.e., the shootings, the beatings, etc.) were at first bloodier and more brutal. It was then decided to cut the film back to PG-13 for more commercial reasons. It is unknown if an unrated version will ever be released.

External links

*imdb title|id=0327850|title=The Rundown
*rotten-tomatoes|id=rundown|title=The Rundown
*mojo title|id=rundown|title=The Rundown

Box Office Leaders USA
before = Underworld
date = September 28
year = 2003
after = The School of Rock