A B-movie that seems to be well aware of what it is.
The Rundown (2003)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for The Rundown
The jungle locations give the film a texture and beauty that underlines the outsized characters.
While the first half of The Rundown is a satisfying buildup, the second half is a tiresome letdown.
The Rock ought to expand his horizons and get himself a nice, quiet comedy.
Without comprehensive scientific data, it's hard to determine whether the Rock is igneous or metamorphic, but his latest film is definitively moronic.
"The Rundown" ends up feeling like the first mainstream action flick with Black heroes and a stereotypical White sidekick. That alone is worth paying full price.
Through the jumble emerges The Rock, who becomes the main reason to see this movie. He turns it into a personal playground and does what he was meant to do -- get the audience on his side.
The cinematic equivalent of a pulp novel. Nobody will ever mistake it for great literature, but it’s darn near impossible to tear yourself away.
If you're looking for popcorn entertainment, pick option A. This is an action comedy that delivers on both counts.
You had me at hello, Mr. The Rock. You lost me later, sure, though it’s more the movie itself that lost me, not you yourself per se.
Knockdown, drag-out, "Yee-HAW!" action-comedy works thanks to the skill of the ensemble on both sides of the camera.
It’s all silly . . . with enough bone-crunching brawls to hospitalize a regiment for a month, but naturally characters merely pick themselves up and dust themselves off just like Wile E. Coyote.
The Rundown is just a helluva fun time at the movies; better than your average buddy/chase flick and funnier than most comedies.
Just when the routine has lulled us to sleep, The Rundown catches us by surprise, delivering a fresh laugh or jolt of adrenaline that lets us know it's paying attention.
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