The Hunted

Walking in, I thought I knew what to expect, but i didn't anticipate how William Friedkin would jolt me with the immediate urgency of the action. This is not an arm's-length chase picture, but a close physical duel between its two main characters. more

It's a good ride, briskly paced, well played and vividly photographed by Caleb Deschanel. more

Engrossing as it is, The Hunted is more a showcase for formidable talent than anything else. It's a brainy, exciting but shallow show -- an expert's action movie that almost runs out of breath. more

Isn't exactly fraught with psychological depth and nuance, but as a stalker-stalkee suspenser, the pic has some nice things going for it. more

While the plot of The Hunted is tiresome and the character development is phlegmatic, the picture holds fascination in its determination to trim away chat and guff and focus on tempo and filmic textures. more

All about the thrill of the chase, and Friedkin challenges the antiseptic spectacle and fantasy flamboyance of computer-enhanced blockbusters with a lean, mean manhunt thriller and gritty, hard-edged style. more

Few modern thrillers aspire to look this striking. more

Aided by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, Friedkin works economically, lending the film the mark of a master craftsman, albeit of the coldly efficient variety. The terseness and surplus of technical skill make The Hunted surprisingly engaging. more

What keeps you watching isn't the story or the actors, none of whom are at the top of their form, but the relentlessness of Friedkin's vision. The film has great forward thrust -- Friedkin's a full-throttle guy -- and the director knows where to put the camera. more

Just a "Rambo" rehash. more

From the first frames of this interesting and somewhat offbeat movie, I found myself fascinated by the setting in the snow-graced forests of the Pacific northwest, where retired government martial-arts and assassin training expert Tommy Lee Jones walks with both grace and purpose through the winter splendor of the chilly landscape. However unlikely the action as depicted in the scenes, it was a marvelous set of opening scenes, providing a key insight into the lead character's humanity and perspective. Little would I know that this was perhaps the most satisfying aspect of this taut... more

The Hunted is not based on a very original idea, but it is executed in a unique manner. Some people might think it looks like the third "Fugitive" movie, and the idea is similar--Tommy Lee Jones has to chase down and catch Benicio Del Toro, but unlike Harrison Ford and Wesley Snipes, Del Toro is actually guilty of murder. Jones plays "LT," the man who trained Hallam (Del Toro) to kill for the government. This is why he is the one to track Hallam, because he taught him. This element makes Jones' role much more believable. This movie is full of violence, none of it overdone, but every act of... more

Other reviewers have already commented on action, plot, etc., so I would like to take this into realms psychological. First of all, this film is a wonderful demonstration of a thesis basic to depth psychology: those mythic stories we fail to take account of when they address us get lived out unconsciously. "Mythic" in the sense of a primordial tale, not an archaic explanation. The primordial tale addressing these two men is that of Abraham and his son Isaac. The narrative voice at the start of the film lets us know that: "And God said, Abraham, kill me a son." This, then, is the given, the... more