Author
AuthorTitle
Picking good movies isn’t all that tough. Most of the time you can tell from one glance at the names on a movie’s poster whether you should see it. As a rule, once an actor hits the “10th good movie” mark, any film he appears in is probably going to be worth your $9.50.
Sadly, rules are made to be broken, and this one broke particularly hard last Friday. Even the presence of two (count ‘em, two) Academy Award winners couldn’t save “The Hunted” from itself. Despite desperate attempts by Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro to salvage it, the movie’s flailing storyline, inattention to detail and utterly unrealistic action sequences proved that you can’t judge a flick by its stars.
Jones plays L.T. Bonham, a retired FBI agent specialized in training Special Forces soldiers how to do two things: gruesomely kill enemies and keep themselves alive. When two hunters are found slaughtered in the woods of northwest America, Bonham is called in to investigate. Upon seeing the wounds, he instantly knows the culprit can only be one person: Aaron Hallam (del Toro), formerly one of Bonham’s most gifted students. Due to years of intense and traumatic combat missions, Hallam has become a deeply disturbed (and dangerous) loose cannon, killing innocents randomly and brutally.
Needless to say, a chase ensues. Viewers can’t help but be reminded of Jones’ earlier days chasing Harrison Ford in “The Fugitive” as he tracks Hallam through the woods of Oregon on foot, through the streets of Portland by car and through the state’s rivers by … well, swimming.
Unfortunately, the chase that is supposed to be the movie’s driving premise eventually becomes one of its downfalls. Why? Its length. Moviegoers are already looking at their watches when Hallam climactically climbs to the top of a bridge to escape police helicopters and boats (a scene that could’ve been a perfect end to the film). But 
when Hallam is still swinging through trees and climbing slippery cliffs 10 minutes later, those still left in the audience are wondering how an hour and a half could ever go by so painfully slow.
A drawn-out script isn’t “Hunted’s” only problem. Even more unbearable than waiting for the end of the chase is watching what the characters go through to get there. Many of the action sequences simply aren’t realistic. One more memorable (and less believable) scene includes Hallam using a piece of metal he found in the woods and a makeshift fire to craft an exact replica of the knife he just lost. In another, Bonham falls down 100 feet of a waterfall, slamming into every rock on the way down, only to pull himself up on shore and keep running.
Despite the script, Jones pulls off yet another impressive dramatic performance. Those expecting another “Traffic”-caliber showing from del Toro, however, will be disappointed; the few lines he has are delivered with a creepy, twitchy demeanor. Think Fenster from “The Usual Suspects” meets the Godfather and you’ll have the idea.
All in all, “The Hunted” is a letdown. Gory, implausible and lacking in flow script-wise, what could have been an exciting “man versus his inner demons versus other man” thriller ends up being nothing more than a waste of quality talent. Let’s hope in future films del Toro and Jones have more say in what goes into the script before they put their names on it.
—Review by Peter Celauro
March 20, 2003
