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Movie: The Rundown
Starring The Rock, Seann William Scott,
Christopher Walken, Rosario Dawson
Directed by Peter Berg; Written by R.J. Stewart (Universal)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
No, this is not a movie about chronic fatigue syndrome. This is an action comedy vehicle that was designed for The Rock. Of course Ahnold, Jeanne Claude, or a host of other muscular actors could have been plugged in just as easily, but actually, I find The Rock more palatable than most action specialists because he doesn't take himself quite so seriously.
Rock stars as a bounty hunter named Beck who is sent to the jungle of Brazil to locate a rich man's son, who happens to be on the trail of a rare gold artifact. There's no reason given why a ne'er-do-well like Travis, played with his usual smirkiness by Seann William Scott, should have figured out where this artifact is, but on with the show! Christopher Walken somehow manages a wonderful balancing act between menacing madman and comic relief as the heavy, a gold miner named Hatcher who runs his enterprise with near slave labor and lots of hired guns. Rosario Dawson is simply fetching at first as Marianna, a bartender and the almost-girlfriend of Travis, but she is also more than she seems and handles the transition to revolutionary quite well.
Refreshingly for this kind of hero, Beck doesn't like guns and it's well into the last reel before he starts shooting. Along the way he gets in his share of fisticuffs and wisecracks, and of course, as in most Hollywood action fare, the audience must indulge the filmmakers with copious amounts of suspended disbelief. A quarter mile tumble down a steep mountain and no broken bones? A rusty Carmen Ghia that stops AK-47 bullets? Actually, you need to suspend more disbelief than usual, but again, who cares?
I saw a review where it was compared favorably to 48 Hours, but I can't rate The Rundown that highly. As a tale of a bounty hunter, it could have been played with a lot more mystery, but instead Director Peter Berg just supplies standard excuses for exotic-location-action fare. Still, the Rock is mighty likable and he's the biggest reason why The Rundown turned out to be a far better movie than most in this genre.
The Skinny:
Am I glad I saw the film? Sure.
Would I go to see it again? Probably not.
© 2003 - Rusty Pipes