DVD
REVIEW: THE HUNTING PARTY
01/20/08
In September 2007 The Hunting
Party had its theatrical release, and after a six-week run,
barely made a million dollars. Understandably most moviegoer
including myself probably thought that a story centered
around a has-been journalist going after a war criminal
would be boring. However, nothing could be further from the
truth. Writer/Director Richard Shepard has skillfully
crafted a very entertaining film loosely based on a true
story from an Esquire magazine article written by journalist
Scott Anderson. The Hunting Party starts off with a
disclaimer stating: “Only the most ridicules parts of this
story are true.” With a disclaimer like this you know you
are in for a ride.
Simon (Richard Gere) is the has-been field reporter that at
one point was at the top of his game. After having an on-air
meltdown and essential committing career suicide, Simon
pretty much disappears while his cameraman Duck (Terrence
Howard) is given a promotion as chief cameraman to a network
anchor. After the war, Duck ends up on assignment in Bosnia.
After his assignment in Bosnia, Duck plans to go on vacation
and visit his girlfriend in Greece. Simon tracks down Duck
and tells him that he has the story of a lifetime. He plans
to track down and interview, Radoslav Bogdanović, a war
criminal that has a 5-million bounty on his head, but nobody
can seem to find. Duck longing for the days of adventure he
had with Simon decides to spend his vacation searching for
Bogdanović. However, little does he know that Simon plans
much more that just interviewing Bogdanović.
When a film tries to explain a war, the hardest part is
trying to keep things simple otherwise you risk losing the
audience. Most of the movies with similar theme to The
Hunting Party require multiple viewings since the narrative
is so perplexing that unless you already had some previous
knowledge on the conflict the story does not flow. Credit
has to be given to Writer/Director Richard Shepard for
keeping the narrative focused on the main story.
The performances by Richard Gere and Terrence Howard were
authentic. They had very good chemistry and you really do
believe they have been friends for years. With The Hoax and
now The Hunting Party, Richard Gere is entering an era where
he is delivering some very solid performances. The
performance by Jesse Eisenberg who plays Benjamin, the
network’s vice-president’s son who gets caught up in Simons
quest, was also quite striking.
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround - English,
Subtitles - English, Spanish
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Feature Commentary with Writer/Director
Richard Shepard
Deleted Scenes - Each of the
six deleted scenes features optional commentary from
Writer/Director Richard Shepard. The best of the lot being
1-800-CONSPIRACY. This deleted scenes hints as to why nobody
wants Bogdanović captured. Also for a couple of laughs
checkout The Return of Sascha.
The Making of The Hunting Party - Behind the
scenes with Writer/Director Richard Shepard and the cast.
(9:20)
What I did on my Summer Vacation
- The original Esquire article by Scott Anderson.
The Real Hunting Party -
Journalists John Falk & Scott Anderson sit down with
Writer/Director Richard Shepard and tell the story the lead
to the Esquire article. This is a must see for anyone who
enjoyed the movie. (29:41)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
|
|
VIDEO |
|
|
AUDIO |
|
| BONUS
FEATURES |
 |
Review
By Brad Peterson
brad@smartcine.com
Submit Your Movie Review
MORE MOVIE REVIEWS
>>>
