WILLIAM FRIEDKIN

Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB.5. 

USA, 2003.  Lakeshore Entertainment, Alphaville Films.  Screenplay by David Griffiths, Peter Griffiths, Art Monterastelli. Cinematography by Caleb Deschanel.  Produced by Richard Hawley, James Jacks, Ricardo Mestres.  Music by Brian Tyler.  Production Design by William Cruse.  Costume Design by Gloria Gresham.  Film Editing by Augie Hess.

Tommy Lee Jones has spent much of his career chasing down fugitive criminals, and it’s starting to show on his face. The man definitely looks tired, and in this run-of-the-mill thriller by William Friedkin, neither he nor Oscar-winning actor Benicio Del Toro can find much new to do with the worn out cliches of the genre. Del Toro plays a decorated soldier who returns from Kosovo haunted by nightmares of his actions during the Bosnian war. His ability to think clearly becomes entangled with his abilities as a perfect killing machine, resulting in the dead bodies of innocent victims in the forest near his “lair”. Jones plays a wildlife tracker who years before had trained Del Toro in his army days, thus providing the villain with the perfect nemesis, and providing the audience with the setup of some pretty nifty conflicts. The fight choreography is excellent, but the writing has no life and the project that attracted not only two Academy Award winning stars but a likewise-honoured director is more of an exercise in the Big Hollywood Paycheck than anything else. Del Toro gives a hammy performance that betrays his knowledge that he is working well beneath his standards, and Jones just looks plum tuckered out.