The Hunted (2003)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers (WGA):

David Griffiths (written by) &
Peter Griffiths (written by) ...

Release Date:

14 March 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Some men should not be found.

Plot:

An FBI deep-woods tracker captures a trained assassin who has made a sport of hunting humans.

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Combat | Oregon | Hunting | Ex Soldier

Awards:

2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 14

4:10 AM

MAX

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	L.T. Bonham
Benicio Del Toro	...	Aaron Hallam
Connie Nielsen	...	Abby Durrell
Leslie Stefanson	...	Irene Kravitz
John Finn	...	Ted Chenoweth
José Zúñiga	...	Bobby Moret (as Jose Zuniga)
Ron Canada	...	Harry Van Zandt
Mark Pellegrino	...	Dale Hewitt
Jenna Boyd	...	Loretta Kravitz
Aaron DeCone	...	Stokes (as Aaron Brounstein)
Carrick O'Quinn	...	Kohler
Lonny Chapman	...	Zander
Rex Linn	...	Powell
Eddie Velez	...	Richards
Alexander Mackenzie	...	Sheriff

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence and some language.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #39271) | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Denmark:15 | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG (edited for re-rating) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Blue Heron Paper Company - 419 Main Street, Oregon City, Oregon, USA

Company:

Lakeshore Entertainment

Trivia:

When Hallam tells Bonham the men he killed weren't hunters, "they were sweepers", he means he thinks they were sent to kill ("sweep") him. William Friedkin says on the DVD audio commentary that it's left ambiguous whether that is true.

Goofs:

Continuity: After LT pulls the stake out of the bloody leg of the coyote/wolf the animal runs away with a completely white leg.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: [voiceover] God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son." Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on." God say, "no"; Abe say, "what?" God say, "You can do what you want, Abe, but the next time you see me comin', you better run." Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?" God says, "Out on Highway 61."

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Sopranos: Johnny Cakes (#6.8)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Man Comes Around

Watchable, but evaporates completely after viewing

The movie is pretty well-produced overall, though there are a couple of glaring editing goof-ups (the knife being dunked into water, for example.) And the fact that it's clear Jones and Del Toro are doing much of their own stuntwork in the fighting sequences (and other places) is pretty impressive.

However, there is really nothing of substance here that will make you remember the movie long after you've seen it. While the action gets bloody at times, the actual struggling around is only okay at best. The Jones and Del Toro characters are thin, with little background revealed about them, and they don't have that much dialogue. There are some interesting themes that start to peek out, but they are simply not expanded on. (Like: Why didn't Jones' character answer those letters he got? You have to hear the explanation from director Friedkin on one of the DVD documentaries!) Ultimately, the movie becomes a simple-minded action movie, of the mentality of many direct-to-video movies.

A P.S. to Hollywood filmmakers: If it is heavily snowing in British Columbia, it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that at the same time it would be sunny and warm in Oregon! The weather patterns in both places are more or less the same!