The Hunted (2003 film)

Infobox Film
name = The Hunted


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = William Friedkin
producer = James Jacks
Ricardo Mestres
writer = David Griffiths
Peter Griffiths
Art Monterastelli
narrator =
starring = Tommy Lee Jones
Benicio del Toro
Connie Nielsen
music = Brian Tyler
cinematography = Caleb Deschanel
editing = Augie Hess
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = 2003
runtime = 94 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget = $50 million
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:267164
imdb_id = 0269347

"The Hunted" is a 2003 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro. Brian Tyler composed the film's score.

Plot

In the Pacific Northwest wilderness, two hunters are tracked and viciously murdered by Aaron Hallum (Benicio del Toro). In the wilderness of British Columbia, L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones), a former special operations instructor, is approached and asked to apprehend Hallum, his former student who has "gone renegade" after suffering severe battle stress from his time in Kosovo.

Bonham is assisted by an FBI task force, led by an agent-in-charge Abby Durrell (Connie Nielsen). Despite the continuing presence of the FBI and local authorities, the search begins and ends as a personal battle between Bonham and Hallum, who contends that the murdered hunters were in fact "sweepers" (assassins who kill other assassins who get out of line).

Production

The film was partially filmed in and around Portland, Oregon and Silver Falls State Park. The technical adviser for the film was Tom Brown, Jr., an American outdoorsman and wilderness survival expert. The story is partially inspired by a real-life incident involving Brown, who was asked to track down a former pupil and Special Forces officer who had evaded capture by authorities. This story is told in Tom's book, "Case Files Of The Tracker". The film was primarily shot in the Portland Metropolitan Area (Oregon). Oregon was selected for the film, primarily because of the frequent overcast skies.

Reaction

The overall critical reaction to the movie was negative. It scored a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes out of 140 reviews. Many reviewers noted striking similarities to "Rambo". Rolling Stone calling it "Just a "Rambo" rehash," [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5949439/review/5949440/the_hunted The Hunted : Review : Rolling Stone ] ] while Rex Reed of the "New York Observer" called it a "Ludicrous, plotless, ho-hum tale of lurid confrontation." [ [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1120843-hunted/?page=2&critic=columns&name_order=desc The Hunted Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes ] ] The UK magazine, "Total Film" said the film was "scarcely exciting to watch." [ [http://www.totalfilm.com/cinema_reviews/the_hunted Total Film - The Hunted ] ]

A minority of reviewers praised the film, particularly for the fact it kept the special effects and stunts restrained. For example, Roger Ebert said, "We've seen so many fancy high-tech computer-assisted fight scenes in recent movies that we assume the fighters can fly. They live in a world of gravity-free speed-up. Not so Friedkin's characters." [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030314/REVIEWS/303140302/1023 :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: The Hunted (xhtml) ] ] "Time Out London" took a similar view. [ [http://www.timeout.com/film/72415.html The Hunted Review. Movie Reviews - Film - Time Out London ] ]

What the narrator says at the beginning is the first stanza of the Bob Dylan song "Highway 61 Revisited." A short reprise of the stanza is also said as the last lines of the movie. The song is also included in the soundtrack, but in a Johnny Cash version.

References

External links

* [http://www.huntedmovie.com/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=0269347|title=The Hunted
*amg title|id=1:267164|title=The Hunted