The Hunted

• Directed by William Friedkin
• March 14, 2003 (US)

A retired civilian contractor and United States Special Forces Trainer must track down a former student of his that has gone over the line.

Strange how movies with several big names connected can remain or just become completely anonymous. Maybe at one point I knew The Hunted existed but not anymore. Given the star power and the director behind it you would think this would have some notice but I cannot recall ever hearing anyone talk about this. All I know was that this viewing was spurred by coming across it among some abandoned DVDs. 

Benicio Del Toro plays Aaron Hallam-a man with some serious PTSD that once was one of those shadowy mystery government operatives you find in movies who’s now living out in the wilderness. Tommy Lee Jones is L.T. Bonham who the most bad ass individual in the entire cast of characters. Maybe that there might be exactly why.

The plot is one of those where a trained government killer is either too dangerous or knows too much and must be eliminated yet he is able to best those sent to kill him. Yet right from the get-go it’s a little something special under the hands of William Friedkin. It’s not nearly as action heavy or generally stupid as some other very similar films. Yet not nearly as of high quality as it should have been.

There is the usual game of cat and mouse and chasing each other around. In The Hunted it is all done in a city in Oregon with people and cars and buildings standing in for trees and rocks and everything else you might find in the wilderness. They even go so far as to call the city a wilderness. The camouflage and the sneaking that would’ve been done in most other thrillers of this type is done on city streets. It’s all about blending in with the crowd and figuring out who doesn’t quite belong.

Despite the talent and the directing pedigree it came up a little short. It does little to build the relationship between L.T. and Hallam which is supposedly the core of the story. And it engages in narrative shortcuts like giving Hallam an inconsequential girlfriend that exists just to shorten the time it takes for L.T. to get hot on Hallam’s tail.

Then again the only other female character in the film just mostly exists. FBI Special Agent Abby Durrell (Connie Nielsen) is kinda just there to imply shadowy federal hindrance. L.T. mildly flirts with Durrell. Durrell also occasionally shows up after everything is over. I am not saying she needs to help save the day to the point L.T. could not have done it without her but as a character she is not a factor. Her contributions could have been handled by nameless NPCs given a line or two.

In that vein so much is just handed to us about the characters. You’re simply told about them rather than shown about them. And there aren’t that many significant characters. It’s basically a face off against L.T. and Hallam. Everybody else is supporting yet at 90 minutes Friedkin and pals could not find 15 minutes to do a little bit of relationship building.

Jones was about 57 when this movie came out, but he was really starting to show his age. As an actor he does no disservice to the material but in the action of The Hunted he moves like an old man. Some judicious editing and a body double was called for. I had trouble believing L.T. could take on anybody.

Because of what I can only assume is arthritis or generally stiff joints Del Toro and Jones move a little slowly in their confrontations. One character is a trained killer. The other is a man that knows how to kill. And one showed the other how to do it. This is Hollywood. Fake it! And this blatantly planned set of movements while intelligent is bland since it is so slow.

Benicio Del Toro turns in his usual quirky performance not that far removed from what he gave in the second Star Wars sequel film. Weird cadence to his voice and acting like he’s about ready to wander off on a tangent. He is supposed to be psychotic but comes off as unusual. I guess that is the polite way to put it.

With Friedkin behind the camera and Del Toro and Jones in front of it The Hunted is adequate but never gets to its full potential. A curiosity but not worth seeking.