Critic's Grade: C-

Frank's film tip: You'll feel like the wounded prey while enduring director William Friedkin's uninspired psychological thriller THE HUNTED

So it has come down to this: the great filmmaker William Friedkin is reduced to helming a generic by-the-numbers action thriller that has all the out-of-whack suspense of a defective dental drill. Friedkin, primarily known for his daring Oscar-winning urban crime thriller The French Connection that captivated the action-packed cravings of its mesmerized audience nearly three decades ago, shakily concocts a hysterical yet flavorless chase movie that's not worth running after. In the weightless wilderness action-adventure dud The Hunted, we're asked to invest our imagination in a graphic yet blandly uninspired cat-and-mouse flick that is as blatantly arbitrary as it comes.

Because this movie is directed by the intense reputation of Friedkin and exhibits a couple of entertaining no nonsense best supporting Oscar-winning actors in the name of Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive) and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), we are to instantly dismiss the fact that The Hunted is just another retread of the same old cliched, over-the-top suspense thrillers that movie fans are supposed to salivate over with blood thirsty approval. The trimmings may look interesting with the capable Friedkin behind the camera and the gravel-faced tandem of Jones and Del Toro partaking in the fast-paced flaccid festivities. But when all is said and done, The Hunted is half-hearted material that never is completely compelling or invigorating to overcome its painfully elementary premise that unwisely crosses the likes of Rambo with Jones's 1993 hit The Fugitive.

Speaking of The Fugitive, Jones indirectly revisits this film's alter ego U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard by suspiciously incorporating the same kind of mannerisms in that of The Hunted's FBI tracker L.T. Bonham, a determined professional lured back into service by his grateful governmental handlers. The big brass want to use Bonham's expertise to capture the notorious Aaron Hallam (Del Toro), a former highly-regarded Special Forces soldier turned cold-blooded killer after hacking away at a handful of men in the rural sticks of Oregon.

What makes Bonham the ideal go-to source for this mission is the fact that he knows the deranged Hallam up close and personal. It was Bonham who taught Hallam the special skills on how to kill and develop a knack for being destructive. In many ways, Bonham feels guilty for creating his perturbed protege and must seek some peace of mind in knowing that he can apprehend the social monster he nurtured so many years ago. It's time for the teacher to take his wayward past student to school so to speak and put an end to this diabolical foolishness before the antagonistic Hallam strikes again in deadly fashion.

As if Bonham doesn't have his plate full already, he has to contend with a pushy special agent assigned to the Hallam investigation in the person of Abby Durrell (Connie Nielsen). Abby is intent on pinpointing Hallam's whereabouts thus putting a sudden stop to the carnage that's ominously growing each time the raging ex-military madman hits his tortured mark. For obvious reasons, Abby feels mighty affected by Hallam's killings and will lead the search vigorously regardless of the interference that big shot sidekick Bonham poses.

The Hunted is relentlessly overbearing in its numbing ability to pour it on thick in the machismo department. And of course the labored macho motif in this banal bloody offering consists of such grandstanding tactics as featuring tiresome and indistinguishable hand-to-hand combat scenes, the standard intermission of gunplay, the all-too reliable sequences involving spicy random explosions and the overacting that compliments the laughable agenda set by these chaotic and catty characterizations. Friedkin, no stranger to the cinematic gory glorifications courtesy of his noted involvement with the memorable classic frightfest The Exorcist, clearly feels that taking it up a notch will render this shivering showcase as something ghastly riveting. But little does he realize is that all the hapless caustic shenanigans taking place does not necessarily translate into instant intrigue and edge-of-your-seat fare. If anything, Friedkin's furious flourishes seem like a desperate need to lend this rudimentary noisemaker some impulsive personality as well as credibility.

Jones is steady and adds some depth to an otherwise incomplete protagonist trapped in a pseudo-sensationalistic crime drama that wants to ride the waves of its tedious shock value. Del Toro gets the short end here as the menacing murderer because he is all about an elaborate knee jerk reaction and inexplicable recklessness. Hence, we are without a legitimate and motivating factor for why we should believe or buy his prolonged insanity. Del Toro's Aaron Hallam is never quite convincing solidly as the complex psychopath headlining this excitable story that has turned to the dark side of his penetrating and poisoned psyche.

The Hunted is indeed a stylized attention-getter and some will argue that the scattered doses of implausibility and the extended stages of the vulgar violence is the real clogged heart behind this overindulgent suspense piece. Sure, there are plenty of motion pictures that dine and wine on the ridiculous ribaldry of its cockeyed convictions and maybe Friedkin's narrative shouldn't be the exception to the rule. But c'mon folks--this is a tested veteran in the creative moviemaking mind of William Friedkin and you would naturally expect more from this accomplished moviemaker besides his inexcusable partial serving of a loud and dimwitted diversion such as this meaningless and boisterous mainstream atrocity.

Let's face facts--the easy prey in The Hunted isn't the misguided tendencies of Aaron Hallam or the casualties who suffer because of his twisted actions--it's the unsuspecting moviegoer being duped into eyeballing a languid and rowdy Hollywood fable that should feel ultimately victimized.

Frank rates this film: ** stars (out of 4 stars)

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