Benicio-Del-Toro Movie Reviews

The 1994 original movie "The Cold Light of Day" is significantly better than Sean Penn's interpretation. I knew "The Pledge" was a bomb when a couple of viewers in different parts of the theater remarked on how lousy it was. The film left the Houston area about one week later headed for box office oblivion. Sean Penn made a horrible mistake in in keeping secret the identity of the sex deviate. This was frustrating to say the least and made the rest of the film seem pointless. Jack Nicholson did a good job as the alcoholic retired detective who pledges to a mother that he will find the killer of her daughter. However, Penn has Nicholson play the role of Jerry Black in such a manner as to suggest that the police officer committed himself to the case not so much as to solve it, but because the man has nothing better to do. Nicholson's character comes across as an existentially challenged individual who needs to find a purpose to make his life worth living. The murdered girl is merely an excuse to justifying getting up in the morning.

Penn's real life wife Robin Wright Penn is very convincing as the mother who accepts the generosity of the much older retired officer. Initially she seeks only a relationship which will secure a loving home for the young girl. A sort of romance soon develops between the two adults which seems only to bewilder and overwhelm the man. Wasn't the recent Academy Award winner Benico Del Toro, you might ask, also in the movie? Del Toro merely has about a five minute part indulging in histrionic mannerisms as a mentally retarded man falsely suspected of a vile crime. Penn essentially wasted this great actor's enormous talent. The other actors do little to balance out the deficiencies of Penn's directing.

I can give "The Pledge" only two stars. Only the true fans of Jack Nicholson will find it worth viewing. The previously mentioned "The Cold Light of Day," though, is highly recommended (four stars) as a something of a hidden gem. Rudolf Van Den Berg aptly directs this virtually unknown movie in an intelligent and exciting manner. The audience actually gets to understanding the sick motivations of the child killer. Van Berg's direction is not pretentious, and he accomplishes a lot with almost certainly a smaller budget. Sean Penn should seek instruction and guidance from Van Berg before he attempts another film.

Anyone expecting to find a formulaic cops-chase-killers movie should immediately move on to the latest Hollywood idiot fodder flick. "The Pledge" is intelligent, thought-provoking, well-directed, well-acted, and a feast for the senses.
I know many people who felt let down by this film, possibly because they expected the usual chase and hero's triumph at the end, which does not happen here. I found myself to be curious and somehow astonished by the end, and anxious to see it again.
Jack Nicholson gives one of his best latter-day performances here, and touches on areas which are not normally "Jack". By the end of the film, he is stunned and totally confused; knowing he was somehow right, though strange twists of fate conspire against him. It's almost Hitchcock territory; the man wrongly accused, or the man who knows all the facts, and yet no one believes him.
Sean Penn is no clown director; he's not making mass-market cheap thrill flicks here. He lets the story develop with a total absence of Hollywood cliches and setups. By the end, though most people will feel somehow cheated out of a visceral release, I feel viewers with an open mind who don't expect their movies to be served up like fast-food will be quite pleased. It's one of those movies you can talk about all night long.

This *is* a very different movie in the cop vs. serial killer genre. If you want a formula movie with a formula 3rd Act (plot twists that lead to ultimate victory), then look elsewhere.

Sean Penn has created a movie that starts routine, with a rich character study by Jack Nicholson, as the almost-retired Reno Detective Jerry Black. Jack Nicholson as a world-weary retiree is a joy to behold -- as he gazes on old photos of himself (clever cut-and-pastes using the young Jack Nicholson we know, placed in photos ... him with his Vietnam buddies, him getting a police medal), we see the evolution of Jack Nicholson, who puts his all into the very wise and flawed Detective Black.

Starting with a formula idea, -- that the conventional wisdom of who-did-it is wrong, --- and that even in retirement, Det. Black is continuing the hunt for the real killer, -- the film leads you down a conventional path and then jumps the track in Act 3, becoming a study in how things derail in real life, and how in real life tidy storybook endings may be the exception.

The ending is a dark and disquieting one, satisfying only in that the killer is stopped (although by an unexpected means). It *is* worth discussing the specifics of the ending, so if you don't want the ending spoiled for you, READ NO FURTHER.

Det. Black discovers that the killer goes after 7 year old blonde girls wearing red dresses. The killer's m.o. is that he first establishes a relationship with the victim (as a magical "Wizard"), and gives them little gifts, and gains their confidence over time, and then finally ritualistically sexually assaulting them and butchering them. The killer is tall and drives a dark station wagon.

Det. Black, a fisherman, foregoes buying a lakeside cabin, and instead buys a gas station (to track local vehicles, and tall guys). By happenstance, he takes in a battered wife and her 7 year old blonde girl. Without letting them in on his plans, he sets up a swing-set at roadside for the girl to play on (to attract the killer), and says nothing when the girl picks out a red dress at a clothing store. Without the mothers' consent, he thus sets up the girl as bait. By luck, the killer makes contact (the girl announces to Black, chillingly, "I've met the Wizard"), and sets up a meeting with the girl at a local park. Black then convinces his Reno swat team buddies to set up a surveillance, and they all wait for the killer to show.

Right here, the off-beat ending starts: The killer, unbeknownst to all, has a head-on collision on the highway, on the way to the park, and is dead. The swat team leaves, in disgust, believing that Black has led them on an insane goose chase. The girl's mother show up and breaks off her relationship with Black, rightly accusing him of manipulating her and her daughter into being unknowing bait. Black descends into an alcoholic insanity, and the ending shows him jabbering incoherently at the sky, his life in ruins.

So this ending is way unsatisfying for formula viewers -- if I was at the movies and wanted to feel good upon departure, I'd feel cheated. However, the acting throughout is superb, and is the movie's salvation:

Patricia Clarkson is intense as the mother of the first dead girl who extracts Jack's/Black's pledge to find the killer. Mickey Rourke is intense as a dead girl's father who fully explains the intensity with which he misses his dead daughter. Aaron Eckhart plays Det. Stan Krolak (Black's last partner) with a beautiful intensity. Eckhart has a gift for playing intense and not-so-bright characters (he was great as sleezy Del Sizemore in Nurse Betty), and his finger countdown from "3", boasting how fast he will extract a confession from a "slow" Indian (B. Del Toro), is a classic moment of bravado.

So even though the script trashes a feel good ending, the acting is wonderful, -- on balance, this is a great film (buy it!), but if (especially after 9-11-01) you want a feel-good ending, you will be let down.

The other let down is that the DVD is minimal -- no special features other than the trailer (I would have loved to hear a director's commentary with Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson) -- but the tranfer to DVD is crisp, both video and audio quality is excellent.

The 1994 original movie "The Cold Light of Day" is significantly better than Sean Penn's interpretation. I knew "The Pledge" was a bomb when a couple of viewers in different parts of the theater remarked on how lousy it was. The film left the Houston area about one week later headed for box office oblivion. Sean Penn made a horrible mistake in in keeping secret the identity of the sex deviate. This was frustrating to say the least and made the rest of the film seem pointless. Jack Nicholson did a good job as the alcoholic retired detective who pledges to a mother that he will find the killer of her daughter. However, Penn has Nicholson play the role of Jerry Black in such a manner as to suggest that the police officer committed himself to the case not so much as to solve it, but because the man has nothing better to do. Nicholson's character comes across as an existentially challenged individual who needs to find a purpose to make his life worth living. The murdered girl is merely an excuse to justifying getting up in the morning.

Penn's real life wife Robin Wright Penn is very convincing as the mother who accepts the generosity of the much older retired officer. Initially she seeks only a relationship which will secure a loving home for the young girl. A sort of romance soon develops between the two adults which seems only to bewilder and overwhelm the man. Wasn't the recent Academy Award winner Benico Del Toro, you might ask, also in the movie? Del Toro merely has about a five minute part indulging in histrionic mannerisms as a mentally retarded man falsely suspected of a vile crime. Penn essentially wasted this great actor's enormous talent. The other actors do little to balance out the deficiencies of Penn's directing.

I can give "The Pledge" only two stars. Only the true fans of Jack Nicholson will find it worth viewing. The previously mentioned "The Cold Light of Day," though, is highly recommended (four stars) as a something of a hidden gem. Rudolf Van Den Berg aptly directs this virtually unknown movie in an intelligent and exciting manner. The audience actually gets to understanding the sick motivations of the child killer. Van Berg's direction is not pretentious, and he accomplishes a lot with almost certainly a smaller budget. Sean Penn should seek instruction and guidance from Van Berg before he attempts another film.

Anyone expecting to find a formulaic cops-chase-killers movie should immediately move on to the latest Hollywood idiot fodder flick. "The Pledge" is intelligent, thought-provoking, well-directed, well-acted, and a feast for the senses.
I know many people who felt let down by this film, possibly because they expected the usual chase and hero's triumph at the end, which does not happen here. I found myself to be curious and somehow astonished by the end, and anxious to see it again.
Jack Nicholson gives one of his best latter-day performances here, and touches on areas which are not normally "Jack". By the end of the film, he is stunned and totally confused; knowing he was somehow right, though strange twists of fate conspire against him. It's almost Hitchcock territory; the man wrongly accused, or the man who knows all the facts, and yet no one believes him.
Sean Penn is no clown director; he's not making mass-market cheap thrill flicks here. He lets the story develop with a total absence of Hollywood cliches and setups. By the end, though most people will feel somehow cheated out of a visceral release, I feel viewers with an open mind who don't expect their movies to be served up like fast-food will be quite pleased. It's one of those movies you can talk about all night long.

This *is* a very different movie in the cop vs. serial killer genre. If you want a formula movie with a formula 3rd Act (plot twists that lead to ultimate victory), then look elsewhere.

Sean Penn has created a movie that starts routine, with a rich character study by Jack Nicholson, as the almost-retired Reno Detective Jerry Black. Jack Nicholson as a world-weary retiree is a joy to behold -- as he gazes on old photos of himself (clever cut-and-pastes using the young Jack Nicholson we know, placed in photos ... him with his Vietnam buddies, him getting a police medal), we see the evolution of Jack Nicholson, who puts his all into the very wise and flawed Detective Black.

Starting with a formula idea, -- that the conventional wisdom of who-did-it is wrong, --- and that even in retirement, Det. Black is continuing the hunt for the real killer, -- the film leads you down a conventional path and then jumps the track in Act 3, becoming a study in how things derail in real life, and how in real life tidy storybook endings may be the exception.

The ending is a dark and disquieting one, satisfying only in that the killer is stopped (although by an unexpected means). It *is* worth discussing the specifics of the ending, so if you don't want the ending spoiled for you, READ NO FURTHER.

Det. Black discovers that the killer goes after 7 year old blonde girls wearing red dresses. The killer's m.o. is that he first establishes a relationship with the victim (as a magical "Wizard"), and gives them little gifts, and gains their confidence over time, and then finally ritualistically sexually assaulting them and butchering them. The killer is tall and drives a dark station wagon.

Det. Black, a fisherman, foregoes buying a lakeside cabin, and instead buys a gas station (to track local vehicles, and tall guys). By happenstance, he takes in a battered wife and her 7 year old blonde girl. Without letting them in on his plans, he sets up a swing-set at roadside for the girl to play on (to attract the killer), and says nothing when the girl picks out a red dress at a clothing store. Without the mothers' consent, he thus sets up the girl as bait. By luck, the killer makes contact (the girl announces to Black, chillingly, "I've met the Wizard"), and sets up a meeting with the girl at a local park. Black then convinces his Reno swat team buddies to set up a surveillance, and they all wait for the killer to show.

Right here, the off-beat ending starts: The killer, unbeknownst to all, has a head-on collision on the highway, on the way to the park, and is dead. The swat team leaves, in disgust, believing that Black has led them on an insane goose chase. The girl's mother show up and breaks off her relationship with Black, rightly accusing him of manipulating her and her daughter into being unknowing bait. Black descends into an alcoholic insanity, and the ending shows him jabbering incoherently at the sky, his life in ruins.

So this ending is way unsatisfying for formula viewers -- if I was at the movies and wanted to feel good upon departure, I'd feel cheated. However, the acting throughout is superb, and is the movie's salvation:

Patricia Clarkson is intense as the mother of the first dead girl who extracts Jack's/Black's pledge to find the killer. Mickey Rourke is intense as a dead girl's father who fully explains the intensity with which he misses his dead daughter. Aaron Eckhart plays Det. Stan Krolak (Black's last partner) with a beautiful intensity. Eckhart has a gift for playing intense and not-so-bright characters (he was great as sleezy Del Sizemore in Nurse Betty), and his finger countdown from "3", boasting how fast he will extract a confession from a "slow" Indian (B. Del Toro), is a classic moment of bravado.

So even though the script trashes a feel good ending, the acting is wonderful, -- on balance, this is a great film (buy it!), but if (especially after 9-11-01) you want a feel-good ending, you will be let down.

The other let down is that the DVD is minimal -- no special features other than the trailer (I would have loved to hear a director's commentary with Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson) -- but the tranfer to DVD is crisp, both video and audio quality is excellent.

The 1994 original movie "The Cold Light of Day" is significantly better than Sean Penn's interpretation. I knew "The Pledge" was a bomb when a couple of viewers in different parts of the theater remarked on how lousy it was. The film left the Houston area about one week later headed for box office oblivion. Sean Penn made a horrible mistake in in keeping secret the identity of the sex deviate. This was frustrating to say the least and made the rest of the film seem pointless. Jack Nicholson did a good job as the alcoholic retired detective who pledges to a mother that he will find the killer of her daughter. However, Penn has Nicholson play the role of Jerry Black in such a manner as to suggest that the police officer committed himself to the case not so much as to solve it, but because the man has nothing better to do. Nicholson's character comes across as an existentially challenged individual who needs to find a purpose to make his life worth living. The murdered girl is merely an excuse to justifying getting up in the morning.

Penn's real life wife Robin Wright Penn is very convincing as the mother who accepts the generosity of the much older retired officer. Initially she seeks only a relationship which will secure a loving home for the young girl. A sort of romance soon develops between the two adults which seems only to bewilder and overwhelm the man. Wasn't the recent Academy Award winner Benico Del Toro, you might ask, also in the movie? Del Toro merely has about a five minute part indulging in histrionic mannerisms as a mentally retarded man falsely suspected of a vile crime. Penn essentially wasted this great actor's enormous talent. The other actors do little to balance out the deficiencies of Penn's directing.

I can give "The Pledge" only two stars. Only the true fans of Jack Nicholson will find it worth viewing. The previously mentioned "The Cold Light of Day," though, is highly recommended (four stars) as a something of a hidden gem. Rudolf Van Den Berg aptly directs this virtually unknown movie in an intelligent and exciting manner. The audience actually gets to understanding the sick motivations of the child killer. Van Berg's direction is not pretentious, and he accomplishes a lot with almost certainly a smaller budget. Sean Penn should seek instruction and guidance from Van Berg before he attempts another film.

Anyone expecting to find a formulaic cops-chase-killers movie should immediately move on to the latest Hollywood idiot fodder flick. "The Pledge" is intelligent, thought-provoking, well-directed, well-acted, and a feast for the senses.
I know many people who felt let down by this film, possibly because they expected the usual chase and hero's triumph at the end, which does not happen here. I found myself to be curious and somehow astonished by the end, and anxious to see it again.
Jack Nicholson gives one of his best latter-day performances here, and touches on areas which are not normally "Jack". By the end of the film, he is stunned and totally confused; knowing he was somehow right, though strange twists of fate conspire against him. It's almost Hitchcock territory; the man wrongly accused, or the man who knows all the facts, and yet no one believes him.
Sean Penn is no clown director; he's not making mass-market cheap thrill flicks here. He lets the story develop with a total absence of Hollywood cliches and setups. By the end, though most people will feel somehow cheated out of a visceral release, I feel viewers with an open mind who don't expect their movies to be served up like fast-food will be quite pleased. It's one of those movies you can talk about all night long.

This *is* a very different movie in the cop vs. serial killer genre. If you want a formula movie with a formula 3rd Act (plot twists that lead to ultimate victory), then look elsewhere.

Sean Penn has created a movie that starts routine, with a rich character study by Jack Nicholson, as the almost-retired Reno Detective Jerry Black. Jack Nicholson as a world-weary retiree is a joy to behold -- as he gazes on old photos of himself (clever cut-and-pastes using the young Jack Nicholson we know, placed in photos ... him with his Vietnam buddies, him getting a police medal), we see the evolution of Jack Nicholson, who puts his all into the very wise and flawed Detective Black.

Starting with a formula idea, -- that the conventional wisdom of who-did-it is wrong, --- and that even in retirement, Det. Black is continuing the hunt for the real killer, -- the film leads you down a conventional path and then jumps the track in Act 3, becoming a study in how things derail in real life, and how in real life tidy storybook endings may be the exception.

The ending is a dark and disquieting one, satisfying only in that the killer is stopped (although by an unexpected means). It *is* worth discussing the specifics of the ending, so if you don't want the ending spoiled for you, READ NO FURTHER.

Det. Black discovers that the killer goes after 7 year old blonde girls wearing red dresses. The killer's m.o. is that he first establishes a relationship with the victim (as a magical "Wizard"), and gives them little gifts, and gains their confidence over time, and then finally ritualistically sexually assaulting them and butchering them. The killer is tall and drives a dark station wagon.

Det. Black, a fisherman, foregoes buying a lakeside cabin, and instead buys a gas station (to track local vehicles, and tall guys). By happenstance, he takes in a battered wife and her 7 year old blonde girl. Without letting them in on his plans, he sets up a swing-set at roadside for the girl to play on (to attract the killer), and says nothing when the girl picks out a red dress at a clothing store. Without the mothers' consent, he thus sets up the girl as bait. By luck, the killer makes contact (the girl announces to Black, chillingly, "I've met the Wizard"), and sets up a meeting with the girl at a local park. Black then convinces his Reno swat team buddies to set up a surveillance, and they all wait for the killer to show.

Right here, the off-beat ending starts: The killer, unbeknownst to all, has a head-on collision on the highway, on the way to the park, and is dead. The swat team leaves, in disgust, believing that Black has led them on an insane goose chase. The girl's mother show up and breaks off her relationship with Black, rightly accusing him of manipulating her and her daughter into being unknowing bait. Black descends into an alcoholic insanity, and the ending shows him jabbering incoherently at the sky, his life in ruins.

So this ending is way unsatisfying for formula viewers -- if I was at the movies and wanted to feel good upon departure, I'd feel cheated. However, the acting throughout is superb, and is the movie's salvation:

Patricia Clarkson is intense as the mother of the first dead girl who extracts Jack's/Black's pledge to find the killer. Mickey Rourke is intense as a dead girl's father who fully explains the intensity with which he misses his dead daughter. Aaron Eckhart plays Det. Stan Krolak (Black's last partner) with a beautiful intensity. Eckhart has a gift for playing intense and not-so-bright characters (he was great as sleezy Del Sizemore in Nurse Betty), and his finger countdown from "3", boasting how fast he will extract a confession from a "slow" Indian (B. Del Toro), is a classic moment of bravado.

So even though the script trashes a feel good ending, the acting is wonderful, -- on balance, this is a great film (buy it!), but if (especially after 9-11-01) you want a feel-good ending, you will be let down.

The other let down is that the DVD is minimal -- no special features other than the trailer (I would have loved to hear a director's commentary with Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson) -- but the tranfer to DVD is crisp, both video and audio quality is excellent.

Tommy Lee Jones can make any movie worth watching, even limp ones and this ones is so lame. Actually a waste of his powerhouse talents. Tommy Lee Jones is a trainer of assassins, and he trains Benicio Del Toro (The Usual Suspects) into the perfect killing machine. We have given reasons (VAGUE REASONS) why suddenly Del Toro cannot stomach being a killing machine any longer, so what does he do...goes rogue and kills. There is only one person who can catch him, Tommy Lee Jones, who is ageing.

So starts a nice cat and mouse game - but who is the cat and mouse. Nice watch, but will soon fade. Doubt most people would want repeat views of this movie, is do, suggest getting a used copy. Tommy Lee is worth that. His performance is marvellous, just the rest of the film does not match his level.

From the first frames of this interesting and somewhat offbeat movie, I found myself fascinated by the setting in the snow-graced forests of the Pacific northwest, where retired government martial-arts and assassin training expert Tommy Lee Jones walks with both grace and purpose through the winter splendor of the chilly landscape. However unlikely the action as depicted in the scenes, it was a marvelous set of opening scenes, providing a key insight into the lead character's humanity and perspective. Little would I know that this was perhaps the most satisfying aspect of this taut suspense thriller. Lee is soon whisked away almost involuntarily to help solve a pair of horrific murders of seasoned and well-armed hunters in the area, only to discover the assailant was one of the expert assassins he helped train. From there the mystery begins to deepen, and Lee finds himself locked into a death struggle on a number of levels both with the assassin, played well by the charismatic Benico Del Toro.

Del Toro's character is haunted by memories of atrocities he witnessed in Kosovo, and his former government handlers are trying to convince Lee that Del Toro has simply gone renegade. Yet there are signs that there may be some truth to Del Toro's suspicions, as told to Lee indicating that he had been set up, that the hunters he executed in the forest were in fact government assassins come to terminate him. The viewer is taken on a whirlwind ride through forest, suburb, and through a variety of cityscapes, and a few of the chase scenes are entertaining, amusing, and quite ingenuous. The plot sometimes suffers from more bullet holes than any of Del Toro's victims, but if you can suspend your critical faculties enough to enjoy the fireworks, you will likely enjoy this potboiler effort at government intrigue gone horribly wrong. Enjoy!

This is a very good movie. If you like people with knives hiding and jumping out and stabbing eachother and running away this is the movie for you. The only flaw i thought was that is if tommy lee jones is a expert tracker how can he not see benicio del toro behind a trash can or whatever in the city. Although it is a very adventurious gory film made for the whole family.

I found this movie to be a cliché through and through. It was predictable and pretty boring. The cat and mouse was just tired and rehashed. Tommy Lee Jones is much older than Del Toro, so while he was believable as a teacher, it was beyond belief that he could hunt him down and fight him as if he was just a young athletic himself.

There isn't much dialogue in the film, at least not much that matters much. There aren't any good twists or surprises. There are other cat and mouse movies, Cliffhanger and Shoot to Kill, two examples that are set in the woods, that are much more exciting and offer more plot twists and more developed characters.

Not much of a recommendation here. Certainly one to rent if you need to see it, I can't imagine seeing this twice.

I saw this movie one day after it's cinematic release, and was suprised at the opening 15 minutes then (current affairs had us in the middle of the Iraq invasion), and wondering if this is the reason behind the long wait to go from screen to DVD.
Del Toro plays a "Black Op's" type of military specialist, who (it later transpires) was an A student of civilian instructor Tommy Lee Jones, in the deadly art of assassination among other things. Without giving too much away, Del Toro (constantly haunted by his military past) appears to have gone off the deep end, and all suspicions point to his involvement in some brutal murders. This is a cue for Tommy Lee to be dragged from retirement as the "only man" who can find him, and ultimately hunt him down. I don't think it's too much to say that the opening sequences in this movie are harrowing, and the whole subject matter is more than a little disturbing, and please - this movie is NOT for kids, even younger teenagers. The hunter/hunted action makes up the bulk of the film, and one can't help drawing comparisons with movies like US Marshals, and The Fugitive, but this is very different, and I believe much better. Del Toro is not a "good guy" being persecuted and chased wrongly, and we aren't looking for a conspiracy theory or gang of corrupt politicians to blame, and this adds much more believability and tension to the plot. Jones is very good in this "non governmental" role and is very believable in his demonstrated expertise, but Del Toro is the real star of the picture in my mind. He is cold, calm and brooding, killing without fear or conscience, whilst still fighting his inner demons. Direction is slick and inventive, and the locations used are breathtaking. This is a very very good movie, if you can endure the extremely graphic violence, and subject matter. Enjoy

The film starts off in 1999 with a battle scene in Kosovo. Benicio Del Toro, in camouflage, is a good guy who risks his life to murder bad guys. The next scene shifts to the year 2003, in a wooded area in Oregon, where Tommy Lee Jones rescues an animal who has been caught in a trap. He's a retired CIA trainer who lives like a hermit and works occasionally for the police as a tracker in solving crimes. It seems like several deer hunters have been viciously murdered, and the FBI is stumped. Film casting being what it is these days, the FBI leader is a woman, Connie Nielson, who is just too good looking for the role. But hey -- this is Hollywood.

As the film moves along, we learn that it's all because of shell shock as well as a high regard for animal life, that has pushed Benicio Del Toro over the edge and makes him the killer. The plot thickens because Tommy Lee Jones is the one who trained him to kill. And so the rest of the film is a cat and mouse game between these two men.

The director, William Friedkin, did an excellent job in creating the tension and making the fight scenes seem so real that I could almost feel the blows. He also gave the two main characters complex personalities. The action was fast and the plot held my interest throughout. And the theme of hunting and savagery towards animals was also explored. Also, the excellent acting as well as a well crafted screenplay made the film rise above its genre. Recommended.

I found this movie to be a cliché through and through. It was predictable and pretty boring. The cat and mouse was just tired and rehashed. Tommy Lee Jones is much older than Del Toro, so while he was believable as a teacher, it was beyond belief that he could hunt him down and fight him as if he was just a young athletic himself.

There isn't much dialogue in the film, at least not much that matters much. There aren't any good twists or surprises. There are other cat and mouse movies, Cliffhanger and Shoot to Kill, two examples that are set in the woods, that are much more exciting and offer more plot twists and more developed characters.

Not much of a recommendation here. Certainly one to rent if you need to see it, I can't imagine seeing this twice.

I saw this movie one day after it's cinematic release, and was suprised at the opening 15 minutes then (current affairs had us in the middle of the Iraq invasion), and wondering if this is the reason behind the long wait to go from screen to DVD.
Del Toro plays a "Black Op's" type of military specialist, who (it later transpires) was an A student of civilian instructor Tommy Lee Jones, in the deadly art of assassination among other things. Without giving too much away, Del Toro (constantly haunted by his military past) appears to have gone off the deep end, and all suspicions point to his involvement in some brutal murders. This is a cue for Tommy Lee to be dragged from retirement as the "only man" who can find him, and ultimately hunt him down. I don't think it's too much to say that the opening sequences in this movie are harrowing, and the whole subject matter is more than a little disturbing, and please - this movie is NOT for kids, even younger teenagers. The hunter/hunted action makes up the bulk of the film, and one can't help drawing comparisons with movies like US Marshals, and The Fugitive, but this is very different, and I believe much better. Del Toro is not a "good guy" being persecuted and chased wrongly, and we aren't looking for a conspiracy theory or gang of corrupt politicians to blame, and this adds much more believability and tension to the plot. Jones is very good in this "non governmental" role and is very believable in his demonstrated expertise, but Del Toro is the real star of the picture in my mind. He is cold, calm and brooding, killing without fear or conscience, whilst still fighting his inner demons. Direction is slick and inventive, and the locations used are breathtaking. This is a very very good movie, if you can endure the extremely graphic violence, and subject matter. Enjoy

The film starts off in 1999 with a battle scene in Kosovo. Benicio Del Toro, in camouflage, is a good guy who risks his life to murder bad guys. The next scene shifts to the year 2003, in a wooded area in Oregon, where Tommy Lee Jones rescues an animal who has been caught in a trap. He's a retired CIA trainer who lives like a hermit and works occasionally for the police as a tracker in solving crimes. It seems like several deer hunters have been viciously murdered, and the FBI is stumped. Film casting being what it is these days, the FBI leader is a woman, Connie Nielson, who is just too good looking for the role. But hey -- this is Hollywood.

As the film moves along, we learn that it's all because of shell shock as well as a high regard for animal life, that has pushed Benicio Del Toro over the edge and makes him the killer. The plot thickens because Tommy Lee Jones is the one who trained him to kill. And so the rest of the film is a cat and mouse game between these two men.

The director, William Friedkin, did an excellent job in creating the tension and making the fight scenes seem so real that I could almost feel the blows. He also gave the two main characters complex personalities. The action was fast and the plot held my interest throughout. And the theme of hunting and savagery towards animals was also explored. Also, the excellent acting as well as a well crafted screenplay made the film rise above its genre. Recommended.

I found this movie to be a cliché through and through. It was predictable and pretty boring. The cat and mouse was just tired and rehashed. Tommy Lee Jones is much older than Del Toro, so while he was believable as a teacher, it was beyond belief that he could hunt him down and fight him as if he was just a young athletic himself.

There isn't much dialogue in the film, at least not much that matters much. There aren't any good twists or surprises. There are other cat and mouse movies, Cliffhanger and Shoot to Kill, two examples that are set in the woods, that are much more exciting and offer more plot twists and more developed characters.

Not much of a recommendation here. Certainly one to rent if you need to see it, I can't imagine seeing this twice.

I saw this movie one day after it's cinematic release, and was suprised at the opening 15 minutes then (current affairs had us in the middle of the Iraq invasion), and wondering if this is the reason behind the long wait to go from screen to DVD.
Del Toro plays a "Black Op's" type of military specialist, who (it later transpires) was an A student of civilian instructor Tommy Lee Jones, in the deadly art of assassination among other things. Without giving too much away, Del Toro (constantly haunted by his military past) appears to have gone off the deep end, and all suspicions point to his involvement in some brutal murders. This is a cue for Tommy Lee to be dragged from retirement as the "only man" who can find him, and ultimately hunt him down. I don't think it's too much to say that the opening sequences in this movie are harrowing, and the whole subject matter is more than a little disturbing, and please - this movie is NOT for kids, even younger teenagers. The hunter/hunted action makes up the bulk of the film, and one can't help drawing comparisons with movies like US Marshals, and The Fugitive, but this is very different, and I believe much better. Del Toro is not a "good guy" being persecuted and chased wrongly, and we aren't looking for a conspiracy theory or gang of corrupt politicians to blame, and this adds much more believability and tension to the plot. Jones is very good in this "non governmental" role and is very believable in his demonstrated expertise, but Del Toro is the real star of the picture in my mind. He is cold, calm and brooding, killing without fear or conscience, whilst still fighting his inner demons. Direction is slick and inventive, and the locations used are breathtaking. This is a very very good movie, if you can endure the extremely graphic violence, and subject matter. Enjoy

The film starts off in 1999 with a battle scene in Kosovo. Benicio Del Toro, in camouflage, is a good guy who risks his life to murder bad guys. The next scene shifts to the year 2003, in a wooded area in Oregon, where Tommy Lee Jones rescues an animal who has been caught in a trap. He's a retired CIA trainer who lives like a hermit and works occasionally for the police as a tracker in solving crimes. It seems like several deer hunters have been viciously murdered, and the FBI is stumped. Film casting being what it is these days, the FBI leader is a woman, Connie Nielson, who is just too good looking for the role. But hey -- this is Hollywood.

As the film moves along, we learn that it's all because of shell shock as well as a high regard for animal life, that has pushed Benicio Del Toro over the edge and makes him the killer. The plot thickens because Tommy Lee Jones is the one who trained him to kill. And so the rest of the film is a cat and mouse game between these two men.

The director, William Friedkin, did an excellent job in creating the tension and making the fight scenes seem so real that I could almost feel the blows. He also gave the two main characters complex personalities. The action was fast and the plot held my interest throughout. And the theme of hunting and savagery towards animals was also explored. Also, the excellent acting as well as a well crafted screenplay made the film rise above its genre. Recommended.

Blood is supposedly "thicker than water." Abel Ferrara has crafted a clumsy variation on that timeless theme. It is the obvious tragedy of this film, the clear contradiction of every Italian movie cliche, that the character played by Chris Penn realizes at his own (and his brothers') peril. Anyone who watches "The Sopranos" uncritically, giggling at the antics of those murderous bastards, should be forced to watch this (uneven) movie. Finally, an Italian-American filmmaker saw the immorality inherent in the old formulae. We are too often ready to excuse the barbarous behavior in such films as "The Godfather" and all of its (often uncredited) sequels. Only a murderous society such as ours could find comedy in the internecine killings of the Mob. Abel Ferrara alone saw it for the obscenity that it is. And he could see no other conclusion than the one Chris Penn carries out in "The Funeral."

I love movies like Goodfellas and Casino and Carlito's Way and Scarface and the Godfather series and the rest of THAT kind of mafia movies. And so The Funeral was a surprise to me. There actually are American-made movies with unlikeable mobsters who get everything wrong, kill the wrong people for wrong reasons and themselves, too! Picture that!

But it was a good surprise at that. I can sympathize with another reviewer's unliking of the acting of Chris Penn and Walken's hair, but those are minor flaws. First and foremost, this is a drama of the Italian American culture. You've seen all the same stuff in the more popular movies, but they weren't honest about it. They were just brutal. As good as Scarcese and Coppola and De Niro and Pacino are, they make it their first priority to make the mobsters likeable. Sure, they got their bad sides (as in, wacking people), but come on, they are people, too. Well, they are people, but that doesn't mean they aren't cruel, bloodthirsty vigilantes.

I felt that The Funeral portrayed the mobsters with much more humanity. It's a fact that most people don't have all-rounded personalities. This movie shows that perfectly.

an all star cast led by Christopher Walken and Chris Penn,this movie is a classic and a rare work of art.Annabella Sciorra,Isabella Rossellini,Benicio Del Toro all give powerful performances is this gangland epic.

This film was heavily criticised by leading reviewers. As a teacher I have used this film with students as a surprisingly accurate account. I accept that some performances are terrible (Brando) and the direction is pedestrian, but for historical accuracy it can hardly be criticised, and it's undoubtedly a fun, swashbuckling movie that can pass a wet Sunday afternoon and entertain all ages. Buy it or view it; just don't expect too much.

with a very brief appearance by Brando in the beginning and early performances by Catherine Zeta Jones and Benicio Del Toro i wasnt quite sure what to expect but was hoping for the best.i for one was having a hard time following this movie Benicio Del Toro managed to hold my attention in his brief although powerful appearances.the characters were supposed to be Spanish,Portuguese and the indiginous peoples of the carribean is what i was thinking going into this but to my dismay(with the exception of Del Toro) there were an array of television stars from the mid ninteen eighties.this was more of a fantasy pirate movie than a historical one.

I had to write a review of this horrible movie as a recomendation to people who are in the mood for an unintetionally funny movie... There are a lot of really hilarious scenes. Such as the scene where the crew are just about to kill Columbus when someone cries "LAND HO" and the crew bursts into song. This scene happens twice!
And I must mention there is a bodatious babe who plays an indian who runs around topless for about half of the movie, this alone is worth the watch. Don't buy this movie but it is a funny rent.

This film was heavily criticised by leading reviewers. As a teacher I have used this film with students as a surprisingly accurate account. I accept that some performances are terrible (Brando) and the direction is pedestrian, but for historical accuracy it can hardly be criticised, and it's undoubtedly a fun, swashbuckling movie that can pass a wet Sunday afternoon and entertain all ages. Buy it or view it; just don't expect too much.

with a very brief appearance by Brando in the beginning and early performances by Catherine Zeta Jones and Benicio Del Toro i wasnt quite sure what to expect but was hoping for the best.i for one was having a hard time following this movie Benicio Del Toro managed to hold my attention in his brief although powerful appearances.the characters were supposed to be Spanish,Portuguese and the indiginous peoples of the carribean is what i was thinking going into this but to my dismay(with the exception of Del Toro) there were an array of television stars from the mid ninteen eighties.this was more of a fantasy pirate movie than a historical one.

I had to write a review of this horrible movie as a recomendation to people who are in the mood for an unintetionally funny movie... There are a lot of really hilarious scenes. Such as the scene where the crew are just about to kill Columbus when someone cries "LAND HO" and the crew bursts into song. This scene happens twice!
And I must mention there is a bodatious babe who plays an indian who runs around topless for about half of the movie, this alone is worth the watch. Don't buy this movie but it is a funny rent.