Tommy Lee Jones. What a set of lungs that man must have! It seems like every movie he makes these days, he's chasing after someone.
So it is in "The Hunted", which sees him on the trail of Benicio Del Toro's mentally AWOL soldier. An ex-special forces vet, Del Toro's Aaron Hallam has seen one atrocity too many. Now, anyone who so much as points a gun at a deer gets filleted by his knife (he must have really liked "Bambi").
LT Bonham (Jones) is the man who trained him, so - yawny yawny - the cops figure he's the man to bring Hallam in.
Stomping off into the woods, still wearing his cardigan, Bonham declares: "If I'm not back in two days, that will mean I'm dead." Two minutes later, it seems, he's nabbed Hallam after a fight in the forest and carted him off to the local nick. Just as quickly, Hallam escapes and another manhunt begins.
William Friedkin's chase thriller is enjoyable, macho action nonsense, held together by nifty pacing and reliable performances. At its heart, it's a Rambo rehash, a "First Blood" remake minus America's post-Vietnam guilt-trip.
Del Toro is a more believeable programmed killer than Sly's self-pitying whinger, especially as he comes across as an ordinary Joe rather than a muscle-bound superman. Jones plays Bonham as a kindly recluse (he helps free animals caught in traps, so he must be nice), but who can also kill a man in many different ways.
Director Friedkin set the standard for chase thrillers with "The French Connection", and while he's not made a bad movie here, the predictable script is his undoing. Still, that won't stop Tommy Lee Jones running... all the way to the bank.
The Hunted (2003)
