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The Rundown (2003)
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Reviews Counted:30
Fresh:19
Rotten:11
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: The Rundown doesn't break any new grounds, but the material is amusing enough to entertain.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for adventure violence and some crude dialogue
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Sep 26, 2003 Wide
Box Office: $47,592,825
Synopsis: In the always rough, have-to-be tough urban jungle of Los Angeles, there are men like Beck (THE ROCK)…well, not exactly like Beck—a man who uses whatever means are necessary to retrieve whatever he... In the always rough, have-to-be tough urban jungle of Los Angeles, there are men like Beck (THE ROCK)…well, not exactly like Beck—a man who uses whatever means are necessary to retrieve whatever he is paid to bring back. A marker, a late payment or a Super Bowl ring from a quarterback with gambling debts—Beck doesn’t differentiate and simply relies on his wits, his “let’s get this over with” attitude and his devastating physical prowess to get the job done. For him, it’s a simple, multiple-choice world: (A) Beck’s way, (B) Beck’s way with force, or (C)…there is no “C.” Beck doesn’t go looking for trouble, and he doesn’t like making trouble for anyone, either. Unfortunately, trouble is what he’s hired to clean up, and there’s one final mess he’s got to get out of before he can leave it all behind. And this one just keeps getting more and more tangled, like the Amazon jungle he’s been sent to in The Rundown. At the center of his current trouble is a wise-ass named Travis (SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT), a fast-talking double dealer whose dad has commissioned Beck to retrieve from a lingering adventure in Brazil. Travis proves to be more of a handful than Beck expected, not only because of his mouth and his heels-dug-in reluctance to leave, but because of a couple of other complications he brings with him: Mariana (ROSARIO DAWSON), a no-nonsense local who holds the answers to some of the jungle’s hidden mysteries, and Hatcher (CHRISTOPHER WALKEN), an unhinged despot who has turned the jungle and its inhabitants into his own fortune-making, gold-mining empire. The rundown: Beck is after a guy…who’s after a fortune…and now everybody’s after them. So he’s going to have to unleash everything he’s got to keep on top of his smack-talking quarry, the girl with the secret, the crazy tyrant, the horny monkeys, the hallucinogenic fruit, the backs-to-the-wall rebels, the perilous terrain, the hidden traps and every other obstacle that this jungle throws at him. PETER BERG (Very Bad Things, television’s Chicago Hope and Wonderland) directs The Rundown, a comic action-adventure with exotic locations and hard-hitting, exquisitely crafted fight sequences choreographed by Hong Kong master ANDY CHENG. The film is produced by KEVIN MISHER (The Scorpion King), MARC ABRAHAM (Bring It On) and KAREN GLASSER (Felicia’s Journey). R.J. STEWART (Major League II) and JAMES VANDERBILT (Basic) wrote the screenplay from a story by Stewart. Joining Berg and the producers behind the camera are executive producers VINCE McMAHON (The Scorpion King) and RIC KIDNEY (The Recruit); director of photography TOBIAS SCHLIESSLER (Bait); production designer TOM DUFFIELD (The Ring); editor RICHARD PEARSON (Men in Black II); costume designer LOUISE MINGENBACH (X-Men 2); and composer HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS (Spy Game). [More]
Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Seann William Scott, Christopher Walken, Rosario Dawson
Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Seann William Scott, Christopher Walken, Rosario Dawson, Ewen Bremner
Director: Peter Berg
Director: Peter Berg
Screenwriter: James Vanderbilt, R.J. Stewart
Producer: Kevin Misher, Karen Glasser, Marc Abraham
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams
Studio: Universal Pictures
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Reviews for The Rundown
A tolerable alternative when everything else playing at the mall is sold out on Saturday night.
If Arnold Schwarzenegger had made a movie this tepid in his Commando/Terminator heyday, burned fans would be suggesting that he pursue some tenure as a Fresno alderman.
Too often brings guffaws at all the wrong moments, when it's not being simply too stupid for words.
The film vacillates between balmy stabs at humor and milking its sodden social conscience. Meanwhile the script devolves into people yelling 'Shut up!' at each other.
Don't expect new horizons in the annals of odd-couple, comedy-action flicks.
A brisk, good- hearted but predictable and uninspired -- not to mention bone-crunchingly violent -- action comedy.
It's more fun than most of what passed for popcornsellers this past summer.
The Rundown offers everything a good movie of this sort should: plenty of suspenseful action, a few good laughs, and a share of obligatory 'reluctant buddy' bonding.
The Rundown wants to stand out in a movie market gorged with action. But it regurgitates commercial dictates rather than carving a new path. At least it relies on a diverse, charismatic cast, rather than on spectacular carnage.
Connoisseurs of Christopher Walken, and there are some hard-core addicts lurking about, will have good reason to take in The Rundown -- they can add a few more riches to their treasure chest of Wonky Walken Moments.
A sure-fire audience-pleaser that makes up for its dearth of ideas and originality with spunk, a self-effacing smirk and gobs of humor.
The Rundown understands how to take itself seriously and have fun, and gives respect to an audience that usually doesn't deserve any.
The jungle locations give the film a texture and beauty that underlines the outsized characters.
The Rock ought to expand his horizons and get himself a nice, quiet comedy.
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