The Rundown:

The Rundown is the story of Beck, a modern day Boba Fett (he’s a famous bounty hunter from Star Wars for those cinematically challenged) as he is sent by his employer deep into the Amazon jungle to find is son, Travis, and bring him back to Los Angeles to meet uncertain (but certainly unpleasant) consequences for his past actions. Travis fancies himself a treasure hunter searching for a priceless artifact within the mining territory owned by Hatcher, a ruthless slave driver. The movie is often hilarious, and what short bits of seriousness it does have it quickly followed by another great sequence. The scenery is spectacular and even the computer generated scenes blend in nicely.
The script was written by R.J. Stewart of TV’s “Cleopatra 2525” and whose movie credits include Major League II and is directed by Peter Berg (Very Bad Things)

The Review: No Spoilers

The movie is simple enough. A bounty hunter (or as he is called in the movie, a retrieval expert) wants to get out of the retrieval business, thus is sent on one last “job” to fetch the boss’s misfit son from the Amazon and bring him home to Daddy to face the music, but instead finds himself in the middle of just about everything from lost treasure to rebels to an uprising. Formulaic? Yes. Done before? Yuh-huh. Hilarious? Most definitely. Worth watching? You betcha! Thanks to enthusiastic performances, great direction, good script and great cinematography the film works on so many levels.
Dwayne Johnson (perhaps better known as The Rock) puts forth a superb performance as Beck, a retrieval expert working for Walker (William Lucking), to retrieve his delinquent of a son, Travis (Seann William Scott) – a college dropout who believes himself a worthy treasure hunter – from the Amazon jungle. While Johnson’s performance may not be on the same caliber as Al Pacino or Robert De Niro, he is still a worthy actor and his presentation is, if not Oscar-worthy, it is nonetheless praiseworthy. True this is still a follow-up to The Scorpion King (minus a loin cloth and a band of half-naked barbarians with scimitars) and The Rock’s reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger without the accent. There is noticeable stiffness with his delivery and an “over-acting” quality about it, but let’s be honest with one another. We didn’t pay seven bucks to see The Rock act; we paid seven dollars to see The Rock tussle!
Seann William Scott’s portrayal of Travis is commendable; though let us hope that this, for his career’s sake, is his last Stifler-esque role. His character is a college dropout (from Stanford) who hopes to find a rare artifact, and like Indiana Jones, unselfishly have it displayed in a museum. He has proven to us that he has the comedic dope act down (practically his entire résumé), and there are few better. I like him as an actor and hope, as I said before, for the sake of his career, he can land a serious gig that shows he’s an actor and not just comic relief. On a side note – he bulked up for this flick.
Rosario Dawson (Men in Black II) plays a sultry bartender/owner by day, and rebel leader by night. She too seeks the rare artifact that Travis seeks, though unknown to him as he is infatuated with her, a detail which she uses to her advantage, she would like the artifact for her own reasons (I won’t tell you, watch the movie).
Last but not ever least, Christopher Walken, again, as usual, is absolutely amazing. As with most all his characters, he is quirky, and every scene with him is thoroughly enjoyable and I even found my perhaps sinfully enjoying all of his scenes. In this movie, he portrays a megalomaniacal owner of a mining operation in a small town, El Dorado (Hell Dorado to the poor citizens who call it home), deep within the Amazon who “allows” Travis to search “his” jungle for the artifact which he also wants for himself for a “fair” cut. The real fun begins when The Rock wants to take his bounty home, and Walken wants the treasure which Scott promised to deliver and the rest is what we call entertainment.
Now, it’s time for the bad news. This movie is a rehash of just about every buddy movie out there. The story is anything but original, and many of the fight sequences seem “yeah right” even though they are expertly choreographed. The Rock and Scott’s one screen chemistry is good, but not great. The banter between the two can get hackneyed, which in my opinion docks points away from what could have been what Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte had in 48Hrs. but instead seemed more reminiscent of what Adam Sandler and Damon Wayans had in Bulletproof (barf) and yes, some gags were rather tasteless.
The movie also failed, in my opinion, to use Christopher Walken to his full potential. He could have given the movie so much more, but I must admit I loved the Tooth Fairy skit. Rosario Dawson is great in the film, though sometimes comes off overly righteous which I found annoying at times. This is not one of those movies which can only be enjoyed if you first turn off your brain before entering the theater (*cough* Underworld *cough*) but nonetheless could have been so much better. The Mining sequence worked and looked real enough (enough being the key work) and many parts were just as I said before, very “yeah right.”
But not all is lost. The more you try to think about it afterwards, the more you’ll realized that maybe it wasn’t that great of a movie, but you cannot deny the fact that you relished every second of it. You will snicker childishly and smile a white, toothy smile.
Before I end this, I’d like to add this…Rock fans; keep an eye out for the People’s Eyebrow and The Rock Bottom. *grin*

The Rating: (7.5 of 10) B-

The Recommendation:

This movie is, despite many of its flaws, a must see. When it comes to movies, I can be pretty picky with what I like and what I hate, and I love to pick apart movies finding plot holes and what have you, but I really enjoyed it. It may not mean much, but like everything else in movie reviewing, it is all based upon opinion. Sure, The Rock gets into one pointless yet obligatory scuffle after another. Sure, Seann William Scott plays a smart-mouthed side-kick again (Bulletproof Monk, Evolution). Sure Christopher Walken uses an obtuse metaphor that somehow, perfectly explains the situation from his perspective … this is Hollywood at the best it’s been at in a long, long while. Don’t miss one of the best movies of 2003, watch it, you won’t regret it!