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'HUNTING PARTY' RANGES FAR AND WIDE, BUT COVERS SOME INTERESTING TERRITORY.


Byline: BOB STRAUSS

>FILM CRITIC

We're warned right up front that "only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true." But that doesn't make "The Hunting Party" seem any more convincing. Or less preposterous.

Very loosely based on Scott Anderson's Esquire article, in which he and a couple of war correspondent war correspondent
n.
A journalist, reporter, or commentator assigned to report directly from a war or combat zone.

Noun 1. war correspondent
 buddies jauntily jaun·ty  
adj. jaun·ti·er, jaun·ti·est
1. Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.

2. Crisp and dapper in appearance; natty.

3. Archaic
a. Stylish.

b. Genteel.
 set out to track down a Serbian war criminal some years after the hostilities in Bosnia ended, "Hunting Party" certainly has its absurd and enlightening pluses. But it's also kind of a mess that never quite coheres dramatically. Cynical black comedy, life-threatening terror and moral outrage can be blended into a satisfying whole and have been before.

But writer-director Richard Shepard ("The Matador matador

In bullfighting, the principal performer, who works the capes and attempts to dispatch the bull with a sword thrust between the shoulder blades. Most of the techniques used by modern matadors were established in the 1910s by Juan Belmonte (b. 1894–d.
") just doesn't get the mix right.

The movie is never less than interesting, though, with well-acted characters, over-familiar though most of them are. It's also too complicated and meandering for its own good. Of course, every criticism I've made so far can be used to describe the recent Balkan tragedy, so I guess it's OK to forgive some of the film's weaknesses as matching form to subject.

Things start off rascally ras·cal  
n.
1. One that is playfully mischievous.

2. An unscrupulous, dishonest person; a scoundrel.

adj. Archaic
Made up of, belonging to, or relating to the common people:
 enough with a montage montage (mŏntäzh`, Fr. môNtäzh`), the art and technique of motion-picture editing in which contrasting shots or sequences are used to effect emotional or intellectual responses.  of hotshot TV journalist Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) and his more reserved cameraman Duck (Terrence Howard) having a high old time reporting from 1990s combat zones across the globe. Duck, who's narrating, notes how he always seemed to draw more fire than thrill junkie junkie Popular health A popular term for a person, usually an IV narcotic abusing addict, whose life is disorganized vis-á-vis family and societal structure, whose existence revolves around obtaining–often through theft, prostitution or other illicit  Hunt. He also explains how his colleague's career imploded im·plode  
v. im·plod·ed, im·plod·ing, im·plodes

v.intr.
To collapse inward violently.

v.tr.
1. To cause to collapse inward violently.

2.
 after he lost it during a live feed from the site of a Bosnian atrocity. Following that, Hunt dropped out of sight and Duck returned stateside state·side  
adj.
1. Of or in the continental United States.

2. Alaska Of or in the 48 contiguous states of the United States.

adv. Informal
1.
 to less-dangerous work.

Duck comes back to Sarajevo for the the fifth anniversary of the cease-fire, though. And Hunt -- disheveled, emotionally unstable, broke but still highly calculating -- reappears and manages to talk his old friend into joining a seeming wild goose chase the pursuit of something unattainable, or of something as unlikely to be caught as the wild goose.

See also: Wild
 to capture The Fox (Ljubomir Kerekes), a former leader of Serb death squads whom the peacekeeping authorities are afraid to go after. With Benjamin, a network executive's kid played by "The Squid and the Whale's" Jesse Eisenberg, in tow, the team heads into very scary rural territory to find their elusive prey and either bring him to justice or bring back a great story. Or both. If they survive.

Of course, nothing Hunt says is reliable, although his passion certainly seems genuine enough. If Gere hadn't played a smarter, less sentimental scam artist in "The Hoax" earlier this year, this quite good performance may have seemed more impressive. Eisenberg is excellent as a nervous naive kid, in way over his head, who has enough wits to rise to the occasion when necessary. Howard anchors the proceedings with the only display of good sense, however much it gets compromised, on screen.

Shepard plays with some great ideas, like the fact that every local person and international representative is completely convinced that the American reporters are CIA CIA: see Central Intelligence Agency.


(1) (Confidentiality Integrity Authentication) The three important concerns with regards to information security. Encryption is used to provide confidentiality (privacy, secrecy).
 agents.

Shot in shell-scarred Sarajevo and over the border in Croatia, "The Hunting Party" looks chillingly authentic. But it also feels too much like it's all over the map.

Bob Strauss (818) 713-3670

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

THE HUNTING PARTY - Two and one half stars

>R: violence, nudity, sex, drug use, language, ethnic prejudice.

>Starring: Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Jesse Eisenberg, Ljubomir Kerekes.

>Director: Richard Shepard.

>Running time: 1 hr. 43 min.

>Playing: Area wide.

>In a nutshell: A couple of journalists try to catch a Bosnian war criminal in this odd, smart, tonally confused comic thriller.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Richard Gere, left, and Terrence Howard star as a TV journalist and a cameraman looking for Looking for

In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with.
 a war criminal in "The Hunting Party."
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Title Annotation:LA.COM
Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Sep 7, 2007
Words:613
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