Films with one foot in one genre and one in another can often fall flat before they get a chance to stand up and shine. But the generic-sounding The Hunting Party (originally titled Spring Break in Bosnia) is a rare breed, a comedy with some major dramatic elements about hunting war criminals in Bosnia. The surprising thing is that the film works.
In an interview with The Diamondback, writer-director Richard Shepard (The Matador) discussed his latest dramedy, in which he attempted to capture the “very dark sense of humor” war reporters tend to have. And Shepard succeeds, in a story about Simon Hunt (Richard Gere, The Hoax), a once-famous journalist now desperate and broke after an on-air meltdown, and his reunion with his former cameraman Duck (Terrence Howard, Pride) who has since moved on to a cushy network job in New York.
The two come together when Simon finds Duck and tells him he has a great lead on tracking down the most wanted war criminal in Bosnia, nicknamed The Fox (Ljubomir Kerekes, Libertas). Reluctantly Duck and his newbie journalist assistant Benjamin (Jesse Eisenberg, The Squid and the Whale) agree to help Simon track down The Fox for an interview.
Shepard said The Hunting Party “wasn’t a conscious effort on my part to try and replicate The Matador.” But anyone who saw Shepard’s previous work will recognize a lot of similar thematic and stylistic tendencies at play in this film. For example, in both, there is a middle-aged, once-great man who has become desperate and burnt out. Also in both, the dialogue is funny and sometimes outrageous, with a good dose of dirty humor.
The opening text of The Hunting Party reads, “Only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true,” and anyone who’s read the Esquire article upon which the film is based would know that statement is not far off. Shepard has done a nice job of filling the story with compelling characters and relationships, and as a result, the film has an effective dramatic structure (Duck regretfully keeps taking in Simon despite his self-destructiveness; Simon has a personal vendetta against The Fox).
The cinematographic effects are occasionally innovative, and they combine with the sometimes-energetic editing and eclectic soundtrack to give the film a stylish vibe. Shepard puts the camera in some surprising places and has some unusual artistic touches (such as when viewers see the phrase “as for me” in lights above Howard’s bed as he says those words in the voice-over narration).
“The only way you can get these movies made is if you have a strong cast,” Shepard said, and he has a very talented one here – three great actors give three great performances in this film. Gere seems to have reached a point in his career where he’s content to hide out and give wonderful performances in smaller films, and he has a desperate edge as Simon, bitter and angry but with a hustler charm. Similarly, Howard could carry a film without a line of dialogue, as his occasional knowing smiles at Simon’s antics convince us there is a bond between the two men that no amount of bickering could hurt. And Eisenberg, with his ultra-sharp diction and academic swagger, fits well in his role as Benjamin, the bookish Harvard grad.
But The Hunting Party does have a weakness – its jack-of-all-trades status also means the film is a master of no particular genre. The film is moving, but not as much as it could be if it had been a straight drama; the film is funny, but not as hilarious as it could have been as a straight comedy.
Although the film feels a bit weak, Shepard’s The Hunting Party is thoroughly entertaining and creative.
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