The Hunted (2003)

Director: William Friedkin

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielsen

An FBI deep-woods tracker attempts to capture a trained assassin who has made a sport of hunting humans.

Aaron (Benicio Del Toro) is a war veteran who can’t seem to shake his past. Haunted by events during war, and being well trained, he has become a killing machine in desperate need of psychiatric treatment.

Tommy Lee Jones stars as L.T. Bonham, the man who taught Aaron everything he knows. Now retired, L.T. lives a peaceful existence – until he is approached by the FBI to help capture Aaron.

The film becomes a cat and mouse game as L.T. pursues Aaron, and most of the film is a chase. Aaron’s story is told through back flashes and this is how we get to know him. With a runtime of only 94 minutes, the film is fast-paced with no time wasted on unnecessary details.

The film is somewhat predictable, but I found it rather thrilling and exciting, and certainly entertaining.

‘The Hunted’ was not well received, with many comparing it unfavourably to ‘First Blood’. At the box office it only earned $45 million on a $55 million budget.

Would I watch it again? Yes.