The Hunted (2003)

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

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

David Griffiths, Peter Griffiths

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielsen

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

In the green woods of Silver Falls, Oregon, Aaron Hallam, a trained assassin AWOL from the Special Forces, keeps his own brand of wildlife vigil. After Hallam brutally slew four deer hunters in the area, FBI Special Agent Abby Durrell turns to L.T. Bonham-- the one man who may be able to stop him. At first L.T. resists the mission. Snug in retirement, he's closed off to his past, the years he spent in the Special Forces training soldiers to become skilled killers. But when he realizes that these recent slaying is the work of a man he trained, he feels obligated to stop him. Accepting the assignment under the condition that he works alone, L.T. enters the woods, unarmed--plagued by memories of his best student and riddled with guilt for not responding to Aaron's tortured letters to him as he began to slip over the edge of sanity. Furious as he is with his former mentor for ignoring his pleas for help, Aaron knows that he and L.T. share a tragic bond that is unbreakable. And, even as ...

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | psychopathic killer | body count | one man army | ex soldier | 

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Taglines:

Some men should not be found.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Filmax [Spain] Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Serbo-Croatian

Release Date:

14 March 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Stunde des Jägers

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,482,638, 16 March 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$34,238,611, 26 May 2003

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,782,486, 7 November 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lakeshore Entertainment,Alphaville Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Throughout the film, both Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro wear custom made buffalo leather moccasins by Catskill Mountain Moccasins of Woodstock, New York.

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Goofs

The amount of dirt on Hallam's face during his first fight with Bonham.

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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."

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

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Soundtracks

The Man Comes Around
Written & Performed by Johnny Cash
Courtesy of American Recordings LLC, and The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

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!