As lean as this is, there’s still a bit of fat. The Johnny Cash corniness and paraphernalia in the cave and the brief aside for Benicio’s put upon girlfriend and her daughter could have been excised — they’re hollow gestures at something larger than the question Friedkin is asking, which is “hey bud, what if Rambo was a serial killer?” Incredible Tommy Lee Jones performance where he’s viscerally uncomfortable in cities and their buildings, endlessly fidgeting unless he’s in the woods. One of those movies that’s for sure in the boomer dad canon along with the Denzel Equalizers, the Amazon Prime version of Jack Reacher, and a half dozen half-remembered Charles Bronson movies.
The Hunted (2003)
Directed By: William Friedkin
Screenplay By: David Griffiths, Peter Griffiths, Art Monterastelli
Cinematography: Caleb Deschanel
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio del Toro, Connie Nielsen
Released: March 14, 2003
Watched: February 26, 2026 (Digital)

