CERTIFICATETBCDIRECTORSallyPo
erSTARRINGJavierBardemElle
FanningSalmaHayekLauraLinneySCREENPLAYSallyPo
erDISTRIBUTOR
UniversalRUNNINGTIMEminsTHE ROADS NOT TAKEN
THE HUNT
Leading separate lives...
The most un-dangerous game...
CERTIFICATE DIRECTORCraigZobelSTARRINGBe
yGilpinHilarySwank
IkeBarinholtzEmmaRobertsEthanSupleeSCREENPLAYNickCuseDamon
LindelofDISTRIBUTORUniversalRUNNINGTIMEminsSo far, so everyday. But then
confusion enters that picture as
Potter presents two alternate
timelines. Are they parallel lives
or hallucinations mixing fact and
fantasy? It’s not clear. But what
we see is Leo with his “first love”,
Dolores (Salma Hayek), back in
Mexico and dealing with the
aftermath of a personal tragedy.
Then there is a sojourn to a Greek
island, where Leo, an aspiring
writer, harangues some attractive
young backpackers and laments
his abandonment of his daughter
when she was very young.
Complementing his earlier
characters in the likes of Biutiful
and The Sea Inside, Bardem is
utterly convincing as Leo, even if
the character’s struggles can
make for challenging viewing overIt sees 12 ‘ordinary’ (read:
conservative) Americans
kidnapped by a cabal of wealthy
liberals who drop them in a
remote field with a rack of
firearms before hunting them
down. Many meet swift ends, but
Betty Gilpin’s Crystal proves more
resourceful, fighting her way to
Hilary Swank’s top dog Athena.
Much of The Hunt is so
outlandish that it feels like one
of the spoof movies from
Grindhouse or Tropic Thunder.
Even accepting the freedom this
approach allows, logic is still in
frustratingly short supply. Why,
for example, arm their quarry
with weapons in the first place?
It makes Blumhouse
stablemate The Purge appearthe brisk 85-minute runtime.
An impressive Fanning delivers
as the despairing offspring, and
there’s also a withering turn from
Laura Linney as Leo’s bitter ex.
A stark contrast to the
director’s sprightly comedy The
Party (2017), this is more about
endurance than enjoyment. But
it admirably conveys its central
themes: our need for family,
the remedial power of love and
how we all can take a wrong
path now and again. Potter
delivers a tale filled with sadness
and hope. James Mottramnuanced and layered with
complexity compared to the
blunt-force approach here. And,
hot off HBO’s daring, profound
Watchmen, Damon Lindelof
delivers a script (co-written with
Nick Cuse) that’s disappointingly
straightforward, refusing to
wrestle with obvious targets like
gun violence. A late fight scene is
staged with verve, and Gilpin is
good value in an underwritten
role. But given the times we live
in, this inane satire is a colossal
missed opportunity. Jordan FarleyB
rit-auteur Sally Potter’s latest drama charts 24 hours in
the life of Leo (Javier Bardem), a New Yorker living with
dementia. Living alone in a rundown apartment, Leo’s
only lifeline is his daughter Molly (Elle Fanning), who
arrives to take him to a dental appointment.D
elayed six months following the Dayton and El Paso mass
shootings, and Donald Trump’s (unfounded) criticism of
the film as one “made in order to inflame and cause
chaos”, The Hunt arrives on a wave on controversy. But
the most eye-opening thing about it is just how little it has to say,
clumsily caricaturing both sides of America’s political divide while
failing to make a coherent point of its own.THE VERDICT
A tough watch, but with its heart
in the right place, plus strong
turns from Bardem and Fanning.THE VERDICT
There’s fun to be had in
watching the grisly ends, but as
a satire The Hunt is toothless. UNIVERSAL,^ VIOLET^PICTURES,SEVENTH^ART/EXHIBITION^ ON^ SCREEN,TRAFALGAR^ RELEASING,^ ALTITUDE,^ PARKLAND^ ENTERTAINMENT,CURZONSometimesamassively
missedopportunity
demandsroughjusticeJavierBardemandElleFanning
offermuchemotionasa
troubledfatheranddaughterOUT 1 MAY
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