Chosen (2001)

Director:

Ang Lee

Writer:

David Carter (written by)

Genre:

Action | Short

Plot:

The Driver is carrying an Asian child who has been chosen for a strange ritual. He must drive him through...

Plot Keywords:

Product Placement | Car Chase | Promotional | The Hire

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Clive Owen	...	The Driver
Mason Lee	...	Passenger
Sonom Gualson	...	Tugboat Monk
Brian Smyj	...	Shadow
Jamie Harris	...	Stick
Jeff Jensen	...	Car 1 Driver
Jarrod Bunch	...	Car 1 Passenger (as Jared Bunch)
Artie Malesci	...	Car 2 Driver
Kevin Catucci	...	Car 2 Passenger
Losang Gyatso	...	Imposter Monk
Satoru 'Sat' Tsufura	...	Real Monk

Also Known As:

The Hire: Chosen (USA) (series title)

Runtime:

6 min | USA:11 min (DVD edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Anonymous Content

Trivia:

The young boy gives The Driver an Incredible Hulk band-aid to put on his ear. Ang Lee also directed Hulk (2003).

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first shot involving the Mercedes and the Chrysler, the passenger of the Mercedes has his coat closed in the door, but in the following shots it isn't there.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Ticker (2002)

Crouching-Tiger style choreography meets the finest automobile in the world

Ang Lee took to the helm for this second movie in the "The Hire" series. If you think his beautiful style of choreography and cinemotography only applies to humans, or if you never thought about it before, take a look at this one, my favorite entry in the series.

The driver is hired to transport a young asian immigrant, who is obviously of some mystical importance, from the docks to a location in the city. Almost immediately after the young passenger straps in to the second-only-to-the-M5 540i 6-speed, the bad guys present themselves and the chase is on.

What follows is truly a ballet on wheels. A whole bunch of clumsy american cars and a "lesser" German car show their deficiencies to the amazing skill and ability of The Driver and his performance machine.

A first for the series occurs in this film when we see The Driver take a role outside of the car, and you'll see that the role that is played adds a depth to the Driver, and the storyline.

On a cool side-note, you'll notice a certain...er... "character"... imprinted on the gift that the young passenger gives to The Driver - this was a subtle reference by Ang Lee that completely put to rest rumors that had been floating around the net, and concretely said to the world - "Yes, I am directing this movie due out in 2003"

take notice.

:)

Overall, though all the other films had great things to offer ("The Star" being absolutely hilarious), this is my favorite. 10/10