Susan Granger’s review of “The Hunting Party” (The Weinstein Company)
In this a political thriller about reckless TV journalists-turned-bounty hunters, the first words on the screen are: “Only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true.”
When disgraced veteran journalist Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) discovers that his trusty camera operator, Duck (Terrence Howard), is back in Sarajevo – a decade after the war – holding a cushy job working with the network anchorman (James Brolin), he tracks Duck down and presents a bizarre proposal: an ‘exclusive’ with the elusive (and fictional) Fox (Ljubomir Kerekes), a Balkan war criminal who killed thousands of Bosnian Muslims and tops the world’s ‘most wanted’ list.
Never mind that the CIA, NATO, the UN and The Hague are hunting for him – and there’s a $5 million bounty on his head. To complicate matters, a network exec’s eager son, Benjamin (Jesse Eisenberg), a Harvard grad, insists on accompanying them. Thus begins a horrific road trip.
Based on a true story by Scott Anderson that was published in Esquire magazine back in 2005, this dark comedy, cleverly adapted and directed by Richard Shepherd (“The Matador”), exudes irony and irreverence – if not plausibility.
It’s obvious that Richard Gere (“The Hoax”) relishes the role of the hard-drinking Simon – whose on-air meltdown cost him his career – and his perilous, high-stakes gamble has a revenge motive, since Simon’s pregnant Bosnian girl-friend was killed by the Serbs under the Fox’s orders. As his reluctant accomplice, Terrence Howard is as convincing then he was opposite Jodie Foster in “The Brave One,” while Jesse Eisenberg (“The Squid and the Whale”) does the best he can with what is, essentially, an underwritten role.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Hunting Party” is a cynical 7, highlighting the absurdity of war.
