There are many films that try to raise awareness of real-life atrocities, both past and present, and most of these films tend to be somewhat earnest. They might have a few "Hollywood" elements—they might be love stories or action movies—but they generally keep things safely serious and dramatic. Not so The Hunting Party.
The film, written and directed by Richard Shepard—whose last film, The Matador, starred Pierce Brosnan as a hit man with a mid-life crisis—concerns three journalists who go searching for a war criminal in Bosnia, and while it does have moments of suspense and melancholy, much of the film plays like a comedy. Indeed, an opening title card tells us that "only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true."
It's a daring approach, and one that has some worthy precedents. Of all the movies about nuclear warfare produced at the height of the Cold War, the one everyone remembers is Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick's way-over-the-top satire of détente gone wrong (which, incidentally, was based on a serious novel). Shepard, however, is no Kubrick, and he mixes the absurdist truth with some rather dull clichés.
Richard Gere as Simon Hunt
In reality, there were five journalists who went looking for a war criminal and ended up being mistaken for a C.I.A. hit squad; one of them, Scott K. Anderson, later wrote about the experience for Esquire magazine. The film, on the other hand, features three journalists instead, each of whom is an easily recognizable archetype.
First, there is Simon Hunt (Richard Gere), the adventurous TV reporter who covered the Bosnian conflict until the day he "snapped" and began ranting, rather than reporting, during a live broadcast. His reputation in ruins, he now works freelance, travelling to all the world's miserable spots and hoping someone will buy his stories.
Second, there is Duck (Terrence Howard), the cameraman who toured all the world's conflict zones with Simon, up until the day Simon "snapped", and who has since been promoted to a life of comforts back home. No longer dodging bullets in strange, hostile corners of the world, Duck now hangs with the social elite, working the cameras at formal press conferences and bedding attractive women.
And third, there is Benjamin (The Squid and the Whale's Jesse Eisenberg), a recent graduate of Harvard's journalism school who studied Simon's breakdown in class, and whose dad happens to be a vice-president at the network that Duck works for. He's a neurotic kid, but he's eager to impress the more experienced guys.
Terrence Howard as Duck, Jesse Eisenberg as Benjamin
You can feel the Screenwriting 101 gears clicking into place already, right? Simon is the glib guy with a serious side, the loser who needs to redeem himself. Duck is the guy who has forgotten how to "keep it real" like Simon does. And Benjamin is the callow youth who learns there is more to life than they teach you in class.
The three characters come together in Sarajevo, at an event commemorating the fifth anniversary of the conflict there. Simon pays Duck a surprise visit and proposes tracking down the region's most wanted war criminal, "The Fox" (Ljubomir Kerekes), for an exclusive interview—and perhaps for the reward money as well. Benjamin, who can sense that something is up, insists on joining them, and so he does.
It soon becomes apparent that the authorities patrolling the area outside Sarajevo under the auspices of the United Nations are not particularly interested in capturing "The Fox," and indeed, some of them are keen to believe that the journalists are actually American secret agents who have come to do the dirty work.
Simon and his friends aren't sure whether their new reputation is helpful or harmful to their goal. The lax attitude of the authorities might mean "The Fox" is easier to find, because he doesn't have to try so hard to hide; but if everyone thinks Simon and his friends are assassins, it would make getting an interview with "The Fox" difficult, to say the least. At any rate, Simon and company find they have to dodge other dangers first, including rifle-toting waiters and drug-dealing midgets.
Benjamin, Duck and Simon, searching for 'The Fox'
The Hunting Party was shot on location in Sarajevo and the Balkans, and the setting lends the film a certain feeling of authenticity. It is also quite easy to believe that things really are as crazy in that part of the world as the movie suggests. (The closing credits complicate things further by pointing out which details were factual and which details were invented for the movie. You may be surprised.)
But the three fictitious journalists through whose eyes we encounter this world don't ring true at all. They all feel like the sort of people we have seen in movie after movie, and despite the best efforts of the actors involved, the three characters are all pretty shallow, to boot. Duck, in particular, has a girlfriend waiting for him in Greece, and if there is anything more to her than a sexy body and a bathing suit, we never see it. Do we care if she dumps him for staying in Bosnia? Does he care?
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To the film's credit, it draws attention to a part of the world that may have fallen off the radar for some of us, and to some of the unresolved issues there. And it does feature some fine performances, particularly by Gere and Howard—even if they are made to recite tired old lines like, "Putting your life in danger is living, the rest is television." But the constant shifts in tone—and the strange mix of bizarre fact and banal fiction—make for a less than satisfying experience in the theatre.
Talk About It
Discussion starters
Benjamin suggests early on that it would be "unethical" for journalists to kidnap a wanted war criminal, instead of merely interviewing him. Do you agree? Is the neutrality of the media possible? Desirable?
What motives do you think are most important to Simon? Is there an element of revenge here? What about the last scene with "The Fox"? Do you think Simon and his friends do the right thing? Why or why not? What would you have done?
Do you think it is possible, or desirable, to make a comedy set during a war (or a genocide) and its aftermath? Why or why not? Does this film cross the line anywhere? Point to specific examples.
The Family Corner
For parents to consider
The Hunting Party is rated R for strong language (about 50 four-letter words, plus a few names taken in vain) and some violent content (shots fired, threats of torture, the discovery of dead bodies in a war zone). There are also a few brief glimpses of naked breasts in scenes that underscore the shallowness of material success.
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
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