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Movies / On DVD / The Rundown
The Rundown

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The Rundown (2003)

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Reviews Counted:139

Fresh:99

Rotten:40

Average Rating:6.4/10

Consensus: The Rundown doesn't break any new grounds, but the material is amusing enough to entertain.

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: In the always rough, have-to-be tough urban jungle of Los Angeles, there are men like Beck (THE ROCK)…well, not exactly like Beck—a man who uses whatever means are necessary to retrieve whatever he... In the always rough, have-to-be tough urban jungle of Los Angeles, there are men like Beck (THE ROCK)…well, not exactly like Beck—a man who uses whatever means are necessary to retrieve whatever he is paid to bring back. A marker, a late payment or a Super Bowl ring from a quarterback with gambling debts—Beck doesn’t differentiate and simply relies on his wits, his “let’s get this over with” attitude and his devastating physical prowess to get the job done. For him, it’s a simple, multiple-choice world: (A) Beck’s way, (B) Beck’s way with force, or (C)…there is no “C.” Beck doesn’t go looking for trouble, and he doesn’t like making trouble for anyone, either. Unfortunately, trouble is what he’s hired to clean up, and there’s one final mess he’s got to get out of before he can leave it all behind. And this one just keeps getting more and more tangled, like the Amazon jungle he’s been sent to in The Rundown. At the center of his current trouble is a wise-ass named Travis (SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT), a fast-talking double dealer whose dad has commissioned Beck to retrieve from a lingering adventure in Brazil. Travis proves to be more of a handful than Beck expected, not only because of his mouth and his heels-dug-in reluctance to leave, but because of a couple of other complications he brings with him: Mariana (ROSARIO DAWSON), a no-nonsense local who holds the answers to some of the jungle’s hidden mysteries, and Hatcher (CHRISTOPHER WALKEN), an unhinged despot who has turned the jungle and its inhabitants into his own fortune-making, gold-mining empire. The rundown: Beck is after a guy…who’s after a fortune…and now everybody’s after them. So he’s going to have to unleash everything he’s got to keep on top of his smack-talking quarry, the girl with the secret, the crazy tyrant, the horny monkeys, the hallucinogenic fruit, the backs-to-the-wall rebels, the perilous terrain, the hidden traps and every other obstacle that this jungle throws at him. PETER BERG (Very Bad Things, television’s Chicago Hope and Wonderland) directs The Rundown, a comic action-adventure with exotic locations and hard-hitting, exquisitely crafted fight sequences choreographed by Hong Kong master ANDY CHENG. The film is produced by KEVIN MISHER (The Scorpion King), MARC ABRAHAM (Bring It On) and KAREN GLASSER (Felicia’s Journey). R.J. STEWART (Major League II) and JAMES VANDERBILT (Basic) wrote the screenplay from a story by Stewart. Joining Berg and the producers behind the camera are executive producers VINCE McMAHON (The Scorpion King) and RIC KIDNEY (The Recruit); director of photography TOBIAS SCHLIESSLER (Bait); production designer TOM DUFFIELD (The Ring); editor RICHARD PEARSON (Men in Black II); costume designer LOUISE MINGENBACH (X-Men 2); and composer HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS (Spy Game). [More]

Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Seann William Scott, Christopher Walken, Rosario Dawson

Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Seann William Scott, Christopher Walken, Rosario Dawson, Ewen Bremner

Director: Peter Berg

Director: Peter Berg
Screenwriter: James Vanderbilt, R.J. Stewart
Producer: Kevin Misher, Karen Glasser, Marc Abraham
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams
Studio: Universal Pictures

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Reviews for The Rundown

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41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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The fights almost make up for the excessively juvenile humor and a portrayal of Brazil that's as ridiculous as the depictions of Africa in old Tarzan movies.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
10/01/03
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

The Rundown stomps about to its own nutty rhythm. Unlike the abysmal The Scorpion King, it’s a movie that leaves you slaphappy, not slapping your forehead.

Full Review Source: State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) | comment Comment
10/01/03
Nick Rogers
Nick Rogers
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)

With a summer as full of action movies as this one, you wouldn't think there'd be room for one more, yet "The Rundown" manages to keep an air of freshness without doing anything terribly new.

Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | comment Comment
09/30/03
Vanessa Sibbald
Vanessa Sibbald
Zap2it.com

It is slick, has a solid screenplay, a great action hero in The Rock, and a good supporting cast of actors.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
09/30/03
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

Within the context of the script's gradual decline, The Rundown's faults narrowly outweigh its virtues.

Full Review Source: Mark Reviews Movies | comment Comment
09/30/03
Mark Dujsik
Mark Dujsik
Mark Reviews Movies

Johnson ... keeps it engaging.

Full Review Source: Dallas Observer | comment Comment
09/30/03
Robert Wilonsky
Robert Wilonsky
Dallas Observer

I’ve been placing all my money on Vin Diesel, but it’s time to hedge my bets: The Rock is the action star for this generation.

Full Review Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) | comment Comment
09/30/03
Jonathan R. Perry
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

Shows The Rock's promise as an action star. A better director would have let him deliver on that promise.

Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment Comment
09/30/03
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

The plot is a particularly hapless Indiana Jones rip-off, which makes the mind-numbingly frantic and dull action sequences a fatal liability.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
09/29/03
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

A perfectly delightful comedy adventure.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
09/29/03
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

Passable entertainment that is notable primarily as The Rock’s successful vehicle to action stardom.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
09/29/03
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

The Rock's acting skills are treading water midway between the island of infinitesimal and the isthmus of immeasurable.

Full Review Source: MovieJuice! | comment Comment
09/29/03
Mark Ramsey
Mark Ramsey
MovieJuice!

Even when The Rock's not kicking some bad guy's butt, he's still extremely believable and entertaining to watch.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
09/28/03
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca Murray
About.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
09/28/03
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A tolerable alternative when everything else playing at the mall is sold out on Saturday night.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
09/28/03
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com

Despite the occasional dry patch, The Rundown is too good-natured to resist for long.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
09/28/03
Daniel Eagan
Daniel Eagan
Film Journal International

It's hardly original but The Rundown still manages to be great fun.

Full Review Source: Journal News (Westchester, NY) | comment Comment
09/28/03
Marshall Fine
Marshall Fine
Journal News (Westchester, NY)

A black hole of nothingness that is not only hackneyed, but also mindnumbingly boring.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
09/27/03
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

There's no logical reason for The Rundown to be any good. But with The Rock's sure presence and Peter Berg's gonzo direction, it's anything but bad.

Full Review Source: Film Snobs | comment Comment
09/27/03
Jimmy O
Jimmy O
Film Snobs
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
09/27/03
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
all

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