Stars:
Richard Gere,
Dylan Baker,
Diane Kruger,
James Brolin,
Joy Bryant,
Jesse Eisenberg,
Terrence Howard
Director:
Richard Shepard
Summary: On the fifth anniversary of the end of the civil war in Bosnia, former hot-shot reporter Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) mysteriously shows up, five years after imploding on live television and disappearing into a self-imposed exile. Reunited with his cameraman, Duck (Terrence Howard), who has been promoted to a cushy studio gig working with anchorman Franklin Harris (James Brolin), Simon convinces Duck to go on a dangerous journey to get an interview with a wanted war criminal known as 'The Fox' (Ljubomir Kerekes), based on the real-life Radovan Karadicz who was finally apprehended on 21st July 2008. They are joined by Ben (Jesse Eisenberg), the Harvard-educated nephew of a network executive who is in search of adventure and a good story. Together the three drive deep into Serb territory, facing more intrigue and danger than they ever could have imagined. <BR>Writer-director Richard Shepard (THE MATADOR) loosely based THE HUNTING PARTY on an article Scott Anderson wrote for Esquire magazine entitled 'What I Did on My Summer Vacation', about five reporters who actually did go after Karadicz, and tried to capture him. Shepard infuses the film with a sly black humour and fills the story with a crazy cast of oddball characters, paying homage to Carol Reed's THE THIRD MAN, which was set in post-war Vienna. The three leads are excellent, especially Gere, who plays Hunt with a knowing grin that often hides what he's really up to. Shot on location in and around Sarajevo, lending the film an eerie reality, THE HUNTING PARTY--which claims at the beginning that 'only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true'--is a fun and fascinating political thriller.