THE HUNTED (2003)

Directed by William Friedkin. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Benecio De Toro, Connie Nielsen, John Finn, Leslie Stefanson. Drama/Action. Synopsis: A man who trained trackers-human hunters- for the Army is reluctantly pulled back into his former life when he is asked to help find a former student who is on the loose and unable to adjust to post war life.

I had high hopes for this one, even though I knew nothing about before I picked it up, just based on the cast, director, and the story line as depicted on the box cover and by the title. That formula works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't.

It worked in this case. The Hunted is a good and enjoyable flick that is well acted and directed. The premise of the story is simple: Benecio Del Toro (The Pledge) plays a highly trained U.S. Army soldier who is exceptionally efficient in the art of hunting and killing the enemy. After his last tour in Kosovo, however, something snaps and he is no longer able to really differentiate between peaceful civilians and the enemy. As such, he develops the habit of killing hunters and outdoorsman who are otherwise just enjoying the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

As you might guess, this comes to the attention of the local authorities and the F.B.I, who set in to catch these "killers", being sure that this could not be the work of just one. The F.B.I enlists the help of an old contractor, L.T. (Tommy Lee Jones U.S. Marshals) L.T is taking it easy in a remote location, but in the past he helped out the military and the feds in the art of "tracking", the refined ability to hunt and kill humans anywhere, using techniques and senses that are developed to the level of a hunting animal. It's just that LT never actually killed anyone himself, he only trained soldiers to do it, and at some point he began to have reservations about his life's work.

So, he reluctantly joins the task force investigating these crimes and quickly advises them and their leader (Connie Nielsen Basic) that they are, in fact, looking for only one man and that he is a former student of LT's...in fact, his best student.

And, from there, the chase is on. What makes this such a good action movie is that it is not formulaic, you will see some different things than in your normal action flick. For one thing, the characters have some depth and there are twists to the chase-or "hunt"-which takes place both in the wilderness and on the streets of Portland. Also, the two main characters meet up early on in the film, only for there to be an escape and another more involved hunt later. Director Friedkin (The Exorcist) does a great job of keeping the action moving and the use of the flashback scenes to tell us about the extent of the relationship between the two main characters works very well, we get enough of the back story without a lot of "sitting down and talking scenes", which can negatively impact an action flick.

Jones is awesome in his typically dry and laconic persona and Del Toro is great with his intensity and rage he brings to his character. A good flick.