The Hunter
[youtube=http://youtu.be/KgfB9kebFNI]
Tagline: Some Mysteries Should Never Be Solved
Willem Dafoe plays Martin, which doesn’t sound the most promising of names in a movie called The Hunter. But sure enough, he’s a skilled and ruthless mercenary sent into the Tasmanian wilderness on the hunt for a tiger believed to be extinct.
Indeed, the film seems to want us to believe that both Martin and this elusive tiger are dangerous, wounded loners. A twist of sorts emerges as Martin proceeds to live in a broken-down farmhouse, where he stays with a family whose father has gone missing. But as Martin grows ever closer to these new companions, unforeseen dangers begin to present themselves, thus complicating his deadly mission.
Critics aren’t totally bowled over or put off. “The Hunter has a lot of ideas to express, but it would probably be a better film if it chose to focus on one of them,” said Slant. Movie Time is far more positive, noting that “it’s a handsome, thought-provoking film, none the less, and another contribution to the re-emergence of an Australian cinema of ideas.” And the Australian based At The Movies plays the patriotic card, remarking that “the real star of this quietly gripping film is Tasmania itself, an extraordinary wilderness landscape gloriously photographed for the wide screen by Robert Humphreys.”
LIST: TIME’s Top 10 Films of 2011
NewsFeed’s Flicks Pick: Titanic hardly needs our help, whereas American Reunion already has an audience. So that leaves The Hunter for our pick of the week.