The Rundown (2003)

A tough aspiring chef is hired to bring home a mobster's son from the Amazon but becomes involved in the fight against an oppressive town operator and the search for a legendary treasure.

Director:

Peter Berg

Writers:

R.J. Stewart (story), R.J. Stewart (screenplay),

Stars:

Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dwayne Johnson	...	Beck (as The Rock)
Seann William Scott	...	Travis
Rosario Dawson	...	Mariana
Christopher Walken	...	Hatcher
Ewen Bremner	...	Declan
Jon Gries	...	Harvey
William Lucking	...	Walker
Ernie Reyes Jr.	...	Manito
Stuart F. Wilson	...	Swenson
Dennis Keiffer	...	Naylor
Garrett Warren	...	Henshaw
Toby Holguin	...	Head Indian Tracker
Paul S. Power	...	Martin (as Paul Power)
Stephen Bishop	...	Knappmiller
Chuck Norman	...	Mullaire

Storyline

The Rock as a bounty hunter who attempts to square a debt by heading to the Amazon jungle to capture someone. The bounty hunter discovers that his quarry isn't the bad guy he'd been warned about, and the two team up in pursuit of riches stored in a mine in the Amazon.

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Plot Keywords:

amazon | hunter | bounty hunter | brazil | chef | 

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Taglines:

Bulls, guns, whips, gold and one sacred cat

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for adventure violence and some crude dialogue

Details

Official Sites:

Universal

Country:

USA

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

26 September 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Call of the Wild

Filming Locations:

Brazil

Box Office

Budget:

$85,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£635,485 (UK) (26 March 2004)

Gross:

£2,075,686 (UK) (16 April 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Universal Pictures, WWE Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dwayne Johnson's body double was his cousin. He broke his ankle in the scene where Beck and Travis are tumbling down a hillside with the Jeep.

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Goofs

When Beck first captures Travis and they're escaping by jeep, an overhead shot shows Travis's hands resting on top of the windshield. But the next shot from the hood shows his hands in his lap.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Emeril Lagasse (on radio): I just love mushrooms. One of my favorites, or as I call it, "the king of mushrooms," is the porcini. Now stop right there. Don't be alarmed. There's a lot of confusion in this country between porcini, the Italian name, and cèpes, which is the French name. They're fat and they're earthy. Now the porcini is most often seen dried here in this country. And they would always be labeled "dried porcinis," not "dried cèpes." OK? They are very, very, very flavorful.

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Crazy Credits

In the U.S. version, the only opening credit (after the Universal and Columbia logos) is "The Rundown" - and that appears eight minutes into the film. All other credits (actors, director, producers, writers, et al.) appear at the end of the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Fear of Clowns (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Freedom Band"
Written by Alejandro Martinez, David Lewis Kelmo Thomas, Ivan Scott Martin
Performed by Delinquent Habits
Courtesy of Windswept

User Reviews

Do you like thunderstorms?

Wow. Movies like this are for me both a big surprise and a guilty pleasure to watch. At first, I was doubtful that the Rock had the screen presence or the acting ability to pull off a movie like this, since I had only known him before as "the eyebrow guy from wrestling". This movie proved me wrong and has rapidly moved up into my list of favorite films.

Beck (The Rock) is somebody who chases down people that have irritated the mob, be it financially or socially. This is not his job of choice, however; he would rather own a restaurant. His bosses give him one final job: bring Travis (Sean William Scott, in a refreshing departure from the "horny idiot" style of movies) back from South America to the States. Beck finds Travis, but immediately runs afoul of Hatcher (Christopher Walken), who owns the mining town Travis lives in and wants something valuable that Travis has been looking for in the jungle. Then there are fights, running around from evil guys, more fights, monkeys, hallucinogenic fruit, and other such entertaining things.

Scott brought some well-done comic relief into the film with his quirky upbeat character. I could not stop laughing when Travis really tries to take on Beck in a contest of physical strength. It's like watching a caterpillar try and beat a Mack truck. Christopher Walken, as always, is a pleasure to watch. The man makes a perfect psychopath and I always brighten up when I see him on screen.

"The Rundown" is an excellent film which I would recommend to anyone who loves kinda-brainless (in a good way) action films. Bravo to the Rock. May he have a long and fruitful movie career.