Eisenberg and filmmaker Richard Shepard ("The
Matador") lend only a couple of notes -- smugness and naivete --
to Benjamin, who doesn't even occupy the typical spot for a
neophyte character: the eyes through which we view the story.
That role goes to network cameraman Duck (Howard).
Set in postwar Bosnia, "The Hunting Party" is
all over the place in tone and seeming intent. That's not much
of a surprise, given that the film, based loosely on real
events, attempts to mix humor and the brutal realities of war.
It doesn't help that one of the leads doesn't
play the comedy at all. Howard lends a gravity to Duck, former
cameraman to top-flight network war correspondent Simon Hunt (Gere),
that extends even to lighthearted moments.
Duck -- as in, bend down to elude mortar fire
-- parted ways with Simon after the reporter experienced an
on-air meltdown. Simon was fired, and Duck was kicked upstairs
to live the good life as personal cameraman to the network's
anchor (James Brolin) -- though you wouldn't know it from
Howard's demeanor.
Gere brings a twinkle to Simon, but he's more
believable as a current ne'er-do-well than as a former hotshot.
It's tough to take on faith that Duck would follow him after he
shows up in Duck's hotel room, five years after the end of the
war, with a plan to find its most notorious criminal. But Duck
does go along, as does the kid.
Filmed in the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Sarajevo, and in Croatia, "The Hunting Party" certainly imparts
a sense of place -- a gorgeous landscape marred by horrific
events. But wacky moments on the trio's journey mix uneasily
with sobering elements such as the revelation of the pathos
behind Simon's on-air breakdown. That particular scene plays out
too broadly, with villains who appear to have been hired from a
"Pirates of the Caribbean" casting call.
"The Hunting Party" sparks to life whenever
Mark Ivanir appears as Boris, a U.N. police officer who thinks
the journalists are CIA operatives. During these moments,
Shepard achieves the absurdist tone that eludes him otherwise.
103 minutes
Rated R. For language and violence.
(Reach Carla Meyer at cmeyer@sacbee.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News
Service, www.shns.com.)
