A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: The Hunted

Date Viewed: 3/23/03

Details:

Tommy Lee Jones

Benicio Del Toro

Connie Nielsen

Director: William Friedkin

Score: 1/2

The Review: Not quite The Fugitive, but thematically similar. Crusty, quirky, uncomfortable in urban settings or crowds, Tommy Lee Jones' character is the non-military consultant hired to teach armed and unarmed combat to SEAL trainees: "I will teach you how to kill; the problem is shutting it off." And with that tag-line, the plot becomes clear. A shadowy US secret agency has enlisted one of Jones' better students (Del Toro), turned him loose on some black op, and trouble has begun; Del Toro has then gone undercover and turned rogue. In response to a police request (Nielsen), Jones is brought in from the wintry wilds of the Northwest to track down and help capture Del Toro. The sympathetic connection with The Fugitive and U.S. Marshals is broken from the instant you discover the suspect is not at all innocent. For some, this will cause you to immediately lose interest, but if you persevere, the chase is a circuitous and generally interesting one, leading through some urban and decidedly rural settings.

Jones' character is curious and a bit odd, a pastiche with personal foibles, physical tics and uncommon skills thrown in to gain empathy. He is clearly (perhaps too obviously) uncomfortable in many interpersonal situations, but not at all put out by crawling around in the mud and mire in search of a quarry. Nielsen's cop would be a better foil if she had a larger part; you want some interaction to develop between her and Jones, but are ultimately disappointed.

Lots of mano-a-mano fighting scenes -- essentially a salutatory extended duel between teacher and pupil, both well matched. But this also entails lots of blood and personal mayhem, which will not be to everyone's taste. You will learn how to chip a flint knife, track a squirrel, scavenge and forge a steel knife, and other sorts of useful survival lore. Oh goody.

(29-Mar-03)

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