The Hunted (2003)

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers (WGA):

David Griffiths (written by) &
Peter Griffiths (written by) ...

Release Date:

14 March 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Some men should not be found.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Survivalist | Man Hunt | Pacific Northwest | 1990s | Psychotic

Awards:

2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. June 3

2:30 PM

USA

Cast

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

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence and some language.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Denmark:15 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | South Korea:18 | Malaysia:18SG | Netherlands:12 (TV rating) | Iceland:16 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Philippines:R-18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | USA:R (certificate #39271) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG (edited for re-rating) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Lakeshore Entertainment

Trivia:

Many scenes were filmed in Portland, Oregon because they needed rain. Unfortunately, during the weeks they were filming, it didn't rain in Portland.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the final "tracking" scene where Bonham is searching the woods for Hallum, Bonham sets off a trap where two spiked logs come smashing together. In the scene his reaction is to step back out of the way. Immediately after, the scene cuts to him lunging on the ground. At this moment, one can look in the background and see a boulder with a rope tied around it instead.

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."

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Sopranos: Johnny Cakes (#6.8)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Man Comes Around

painfully underrated

-to the movie critics I give you the middle finger salute for ripping this wonderful movie to shreds.

-"Hunted" tells the wonderfully disturbing story of a man played by Benicio Del Toro who is apparently killing civilians. He is troubled by something that he saw in war and uses his FBI training methods to kill these two redneck hunters that are trying to kill him when the movie opens. We never really learn what's wrong with him but know that he's troubled. He's not crazy though, later on we see him with his girlfriend and her daughter and we see what a compassionate person he is. The FBI enlists the help of a man who can track him down and he's played by the underrated Tommy Lee Jones. Later on we find out that he trained Del Toro's character and in the end helps bring him down. Connie Nelson is also in this movie and her character reminded me of Hilary Swank in "Insomnia". She's not greatly used in the movie but the scenes she's in are fun to watch.

-The movie is very linear as in what you see is what you get and at times a very realistic game of cat and mouse that thankfully avoids all the usual cliché in movies of it's kin. Why the movie critics hated this movie so much is beyond me, the studios must have not given them enough milk duds for them to stuff their faces with I guess. What the movie work is how real everything feels. The fight scenes between Tommy Lee Jones and Del Toro feels real and you get the sense that these men are professionals. They get tired whiles fighting and come up with clever and quick ways to harm each other.

-The director made a smart decision by using the "no music" approach that Spielberg used in "Saving Private Ryan", by doing that the movie has an amazing realistic feel to it. Caleb Deschanel's brilliant cinematography does an amazing job of giving of that reality. Ever since his amazing DP work on "The Passion of the Christ" I've been a fan of the guy ever and he just keeps getting better and better, even though the movie was framed on a 1:85 frame which I hate it still looks amazing. Would have looked better though if he had used a wider frame, but I guess that's the directors decision to make in the end.

-This is a highly underrated movie that was unfairly crushed by critics. It's packed with amazing performances by everyone involved and a great sense or realism. If you ever wanted to see a realistic version of "The Fugitive" then this is definitely the movie for that.

-RIP Johnny Cash