The Hunting Party

Plot synopsis:
The film begins with a disclaimer: Only the most ridiculous parts of this story are true.
After years of covering one armed conflict after another, American journalist Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) is in Bosnia and Herzegovina in early 1994 reporting on the Bosnian War. In parallel, he has managed to romance a local Muslim girl who is pregnant with his child. However, in the late stages of her pregnancy, she is killed by the Bosnian Serb forces when they overrun her village. Upon seeing the carnage, Simon vows revenge on the Bosnian Serb political leader Dragoslav Bogdanović —known as "The Fox".
Reporting on the gruesome event later that day in a live remote link-up, Simon loses his composure at the network anchor Franklin Harris' (James Brolin) suggestion that the Serb attack may have been a reaction to Muslim provocation attacks from inside the village. As a result of his on-air meltdown, Simon's journalistic career takes a tumble. While his professional prospects spiral downhill, those of his long-time camera man Duck (Terrence Howard) go in the opposite direction. Duck gets a cushy job at the network, while Hunt is left following war after war, as a freelancer, in an attempt to get back on US network television map.
In fall 2000, Duck, now a professional, travels to Sarajevo to shoot a "puff piece" of the network anchor Franklin Harris covering the fifth anniversary of the Dayton Agreement, along with fresh-out-of-Harvard young journalist, and son of the network vice-president, Benjamin (Jesse Eisenberg). Duck runs into old buddy Simon. Once a US network star reporter, Simon is by this point, a desperate half-drunk cynic reduced to filing freelance reports for underfunded news outlets in places like Jamaica and Poland.
All the while, he's looking for a story big enough to propel him back to the realm of credibility. He tells Duck that, through a source, he has located Bogdanović, who is now wanted for war crimes with a US$5 million bounty on his head, and that he'd be interested in trying to score an interview with the fugitive. The Fox is assumed to be in the village of Čelebići in Serbian entity of Bosnia, near the border with Montenegro with various stories circulating about him, such as that he enjoys fox hunting (hence the nickname) and that the head of his security detail is a ruthless psychopath with a tattooed forehead.
Convinced by Simon, Duck comes along to shoot the interview, with Benjamin in tow. On the way, Simon confesses his plan to capture the Fox to collect the bounty — something Duck and Benjamin consider insane even to think about. Along the way, the group is mistaken for a CIA hit squad by several groups, including the United Nations police force and the Serbs themselves; at one point, at the initiative of Benjamin, they claim to be CIA agents themselves, using a threat to avoid paying a fee for a tip. Still, Boris (Mark Ivanir), the local area UN commander, puts them in touch with a woman claiming to have been romantically involved with the Fox's main bodyguard Srđan.
Simon, Duck, and Benjamin are then captured by the Fox's guards and taken to a barn to be executed where axe-wielding Srđan — who has the phrase "умро пре рођења" ('died before birth') tattooed on his forehead in Cyrillic alphabet—is preparing to kill them through torture. At the last moment, a team of CIA assassins, tipped off by Boris, storms the barn and frees the journalists, but Fox escapes. It quickly becomes evident to the journalists that, even in the international community, there are people who do not wish the Fox to be captured.
The CIA orders the journalists to board an airplane bound for the US but they run away to carry out their plan to catch the Fox. They capture him while he is hunting in the woods without his guards. The journalists then release him, with his hands securely bound, in a village called Polje filled with the surviving family members of victims of his war crimes, where he is lynched by the vengeful mob.
As the movie ends, before the closing credits, the screen goes to black and the following message is shown:
In theory, the official hunt for war criminals in Bosnia continues to this day...However, the two most wanted men — Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, continue to elude the U.S, The United Nations, The European Union, NATO, The Hague and all in the civilized world who claim to be looking for them. In the ten years that Radovan Karadžić has been on the run, he has published two books and one play Perhaps if the International Community opened a summerstock theatre...But they're probably too busy "searching" for Osama Bin Laden.
Ratko Mladić was arrested on 26 May 2011 and Karadzic was arrested in Belgrade on 21 July 2008 and brought before Belgrade's War Crimes Court a few days later.
The film ends and is then followed by a montage of people and events seen in the movie with words such as 'really existed' flashed across the screen as various characters are shown throughout the film.

Tags: revenge, comedy, murder, violence, flashback

Review:
Where originally it started as a bunch of journalists getting drunk and deciding to go out and find the bad guys, here we have Gere as a washed up TV reporter convincing his old camera man and a network executive (who got the job because of nepotism) that he can get an interview with "the Fox" if they are willing to go along with him.
Its witty intelligent with lots of likable characters and a real sense of both humor and reality.Its probably three quarters of one of the most enjoyable films of the year (even with the nastiness.) What can I say I'm a sucker for great buddy films and Terrence Howard and Richard Gere have an ease when together that makes you certain that they have been friends for decades.
Just got back from the premiere at Venice, where a huge round of applause acknowledged the film's quality as well as Richard Gere's enduring star status.As society and modern youth get serious again, so Hollywood follows the trend, as movies tackle war corruption and hypocrisy following Clooney, Gore et al's lead.
This film is about a disgraced journalist trying to hunt down the most wanted war criminal in Bosnia.I understand that a topic like this would attract rather polarised opinion.
Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) and his cameraman Duckie (Terrence Howard) take great risks to report on wars around the world.
Based on an article that was published in Esquire, The Hunting Party tells the story of three journalistsactually five as the end of the film will explain during its comical "what was true and what wasn't" montagewho took it upon themselves to find the most wanted war criminal in the world, Bosnia's "The Fox".
The Hunting Party does not try and sugar-coat what is going on in the Balkans and pays much attention in showing the truth and not what is read in the history books, both figuratively and literallythe book in physical form during a nice scene of Howard opening the innocent eyes of Eisenberg in a bar, along with the help of four of the real-life reporters on which the film is based.Shot with some wonderful compositions and blocking of actors to build a sense of suspense and fear, Shepard has crafted a winner.
I literally asked the film - out loud - "Do you really think I'm so stupid that I needed to hear that line again?" It's sad to see such a good idea for a compelling story completely destroyed by an inexperienced, untalented writer/director with too much power.Even if you can ignore all the cheap Hollywood tactics used to manufacture conflict, the script is riddled with so many other problems, it's impossible to become engaged long enough to enjoy anything...
Add in a musical score filled with sappy, over-sympathetic violin melodies that destroy every mood that the movie was so careful to ALMOST construct, and it seems as though the film's intent is to dare you to become engaged.The worst part is that The Hunting Party tells a story of a tragic conflict and genocide that NEEDS to be heard by every American, but the film is so bad at conveying its message, it betrays the memory of those lives lost.
While flashing "Where Are They Now?" title cards of the various characters in the last shots of the movie, Richard Shepard (with great and smarmy righteousness), goes above and beyond any notion of responsible storytelling by adding the idea that the U.N. and other related countries were unable to find the masterminds of the genocide in Bosnia because they were perhaps too busy trying to find Osama Bin Laden.
At first glance, 'The Hunting Party' resembles a low budget movie (a cheap hodgepodge as the result of a naive and unconvincing plot), but then you clearly realize it is a poisoning political pamphlet which promotes the need for and justification of revenge: if the alleged war criminal cannot be caught by officials (NATO, CIA, local police etc.) and prosecuted he must somehow be kidnapped and delivered by the three brave and righteous American journalists (sic!): not to the legal forces (the journalists decided to lose a fairly high remuneration of 5 mil.
The Hunting Party is a cold, disjointed film that seems to be hunting desperately for a genre to fit into.The Hunting Party is based on a true story about three journalists (played by Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, and ) who go on a mission to interview and capture one of the most wanted war criminals in the worldthe Fox. True story films usually seem to command a degree of respect, because as we watch it we know some or all of it happened to a certain degree.
It seemed like it was trying to be an intense thriller, a true story about impossible odds, as well as a melodrama of two men who worked together and their experiences.Unfortunately Gere's and Howard's talented performances were wasted in this messy mechanical, melodramatic film.
Radovan Karadzic was responsible for many lives that was lost in the war that struck this lands, I am not defending him, but I AM trying to defend Serbian people, because they are continuously being shown in the media as terrorists (again a sadly funny thing, a movie Peacemaker (is ranked 5.8 which is lower than this 2 films) with George Clooney, the main villain is represented, I quote: "I am a Serb, a Muslim and a Croat.", and that is what it should be, because Serbs alone are not responsible for the war, for the lives lost).
The picture is set during 2000, five years after the Bosnian/Servian war.A successful cameraman named Duck (Terrence Howard), a discredited journalist affected for war named Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) and a youngster correspondent named Strauss (Jesse Eisenberg) undergo an unauthorized mission to find the most wanted war criminal in Servia.
They find themselves in serious danger when are chased and mistaken as a CIA agents and their objective, the Fox/ Rodovan Karadzic (Kerekes), the number one war criminal, decides to come after them.The film is an adventure that embark a motley trio (Gere-Goddard-Eisenberg) posing as a hit squad and looking for a famous war criminal who bears remarkable resemblance to Radovan Karadzic.
The movie contains an excellent main cast as Richard Gere and Terrence Howard and good secondary cast as Diane Kruger, James Brolin as anchor man , Dylan Baker as CIA agent and of course The Fox/ Karadzic played by Kerekes.
There were too many comedic parts OR even worse they weren't meant to be and they ended up coming off that way - in a movie that was about the horrors of war and getting involved in them personally and having to report on them or coming close to the roots of the issues and not being able to make a difference.It was just plain awful....
In order to make a distinctive movie you must firstly avoid stereotype on solely bad and good guys, because that this is not a comic book, but real life in all of its cruelty and sorrow.The peoples of Bosnia have been living for centuries together and have the same genetic origin.
Once the repartee of dialog sets in we realize that journalists require a certain mindset and vantage that allows them to cover war and other atrocities and once that tenor is adjusted the film makes solid sense.Based on a true story by Scott Anderson (a journalist) THE HUNTING PARTY (written for the screen by Richard Shepard who also directs) deals with a top notch journalist Simon (Richard Gere) on the skids and his buddy cameraman Duck (Terrence Howard) and youngster journalist Benjamin (Jesse Eisenberg) who meet up after Simon's self imposed exile to follow a lead to 'interview' The Fox (Ljubomir Kerekes), the most wanted war criminal from the Bosnia/Croatian war.
While the atmosphere is rather grim, the production is pitch perfect and the performances by Gere, Howard, and Eisenberg manage to reveal the complexities of the mental states and bizarre outlooks of journalists who elect to be right next to the horrors of war and crime in order to deliver a story.
In 1995, the reckless but efficient war correspondent Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) and his cameraman Duck (Terrence Howard) are covering the war in Bosnia.
Five years later, while covering the peace in Bosnia with Franklin and the son of the network's VP Benjamin Strauss (Jesse Eisenberg), Duck is visited by Simon who convinces his friend to chase the most wanted war criminal Boghdanovic a.k.a. The Fox (Ljubomir Kerekes), who has a five million dollar reward, for an interview.
However, as I say, it's not hard to get into it, because, despite its directionless motive as to what tone it wants its message and feelings to be transmitted to the audience with, the story itself is interesting, and when revenge comes into play, I am immediately invested to the fullest extent one is capable of being.Also, Richard Gere, who to me did not quite live up to par with his other recent true story, The Hoax, he certainly does here, actually playing more of the sort of character he should've been playing in The Hoax.
And if that gets your goat up then you're not going to be any happier once you've seen the movie.The Hunting Party is goodly warped effort by all involved to explain the absolute lunacy that war brings out in people - both the horror and the humour.
I would add that the horror in the film is not of the limbs blown off variety, but rather less blood, but unthinkable sadism is still shown without seeing the act itself, and the film concentrates on dealing more with the wretched aftermath of savageness.The story is a simple one: a group of journalists unimpressed by their own careers, one (Terence Howard) too cushy,one (Richard Gere) washed up, and one (Jesse Eisenberg) just beginning, think they are covering the 5 year anniversary of Balkan peace and instead are convinced by Richard Gere to form a hunting party to track down and capture their own malcreant, and not just any but the big daddy of them all, and get the scoop of the century - Radoslav Bogdanović - The Fox. They go for any number of reasons: for personal reasons, for the professional challenge, for the rewards, whatever, and off they go.From the off the tone of the film is satirical, cynical, and laugh out loud funny - if you have any sense that the world doesn't work like you'd want it to then this is a great film to watch.The film is populated with off the wall moments and characters but it remains watchable throughout.
Since this is a man's movie, Howard and Gere fit the bill better.The movie has a good mix of suspense, action, intrigue, war, politics and even a couple of doses of humor, which was a nice touch.
Anyway, he and Gere make a good "buddy act" in this film and didn't really need the kid with them.The "message" of the movie, as they say several times during the movie and in print at the conclusion, is that these Bosnian war criminals are still out there and no one seems to really want to capture them..
With good acting, and well cast roles The Hunting Party isn't your usual war movie.The movie starts off with two reporters: Richard Gere as Simon Hunt and Terrence Howard as Duck, running around in a war zone, seemingly not nervous at all.
This movie was continually narrated by Howards' character, but leaves lot of room for dialogue.Fast forward to what is 1994, and Simon and Duck (who got his nickname for dodging bullets in dangerous environments) are covering the war torn Bosnia.
The music also wasn't great, as some sounds in the background would have helped set the moods in the movie a little better.Although this movie is a little over the top, this movie acknowledges it in the beginning saying 'Only the most ridiculous parts of this movie are true.'Tthis movie is partly based on an Esquire article written by Scott Anderson, about how he and other journalists (through drunk conversations) somehow managed to locate a war criminal in Bosnia.All in all, this is a solid movie, with good acting by the cast, lots of action, and finds a way to be gripping-yet humorous at the same time.
Anyway, back to this movie, as I said, it's not worth watching, unless you have low IQ and you allow others to construct your own opinion about something that you, they and no one else know, except those people who actually lived there, saw and heard things and survived that civil war..
It is gut-wrenching.It's a good buddy movie - funny, exciting at times, terribly sad at others, and Gere & Howard play off each other brilliantly.Brilliant ending - too bad we can't catch the criminals and do it for real..
After solid 'The Matador'(brilliant Brosnan), Richard Shepard decided to direct a movie that is about catching war criminal in Bosnia.
The movie point is to collect Muslim tension to Serbs,instead the real problems such is Israel,Iraq and Afganistan occupation,war crimes in Lebanon,...This film will be forgotten very fast,because of his short-term purpose.And probably will not be accepted by international audience.People are not stupid ,to believe in low cost budget films.Anyway ,time will give answers..
To make a commercially viable film out of a far-from attractive scenario, this film has resorted to low-brow slightly comedic buddy-ism.The three stars, Richard Gere, Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg are so dissimilar, both as actors as in characters - Gere, the silver-haired fox is a drunken senior news reporter who seriously messed up live on air and now has a bounty to find and an axe to grind; Howard, who is black and was Gere's cameraman but since Gere's sacking has been promoted and now has a cushy job and a playing away gorgeous wife.
Lots of shuttling back and fore along with the realistic tracking down of 'The Fox', a war criminal wanted by the U.N. These scenes are the sort that shout out for Jean Reno, gruff and mean, not laughably smug Gere and cowardly Eisenberg.Lots of serious issues are dealt with and even more discouraging are the end credits - the usual, serious warning about still-at-large war criminals and the disturbing facts and figures are followed immediately by a sort of Shrek-style comedic take out on what each of the characters then went on to do.To say that this dilutes the film's purpose is an understatement and the reason for my 5/10.
loved it definitely worth cheeking out really shows you what a lot of people in this country all ready know the fa qt that the War Criminals Still at Large and the bull @hit we was putting up with and still putting up with if i might add but this movie is like a americanized version no mans land with out the war criminal and i actually think its better and i wouldn't be surprised if Serbs are out raged by this movie and why wouldn't they be all the stuff you see in the movie they actually did now it hits the national media they say the movie is not true i got the best insight scope so if u decide to watch it be comfortable to know you watching the god honest Truth.
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Years ago, Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) and Duck (Terrence Howard) were war correspondents who shared a sense of danger and adrenaline, risking their lives reporting from war torn hellholes and dodging missiles and bullets at every corner.
Years later, however, Hunt catches up with his old friend and, down on his luck, asks him to travel with him along with a third party, to Bosnia to catch the elusive war criminal The Fox (Ljubomir Kerekes) a seemingly crazy mission- but one with a more personal stake for Hunt than the other two men could have thought.Richard Gere's career has read like a How To Make It guide in the field of Hollywood.
Daring resielient of Simon leads the team to Fox, they do capture him and justice is done.This movie is loosely based on factual events and characters  a list of that is shown at the end of the movie.Director Richard Shepard who has also written this movie's main plot, inspired from a small book - A short history of Bosnian conflict - tries hard to bring interest, but fails in sub-plots.
So what eventually held up the movie despite its wafer thin plot and hurried finale was the chemistry and banter between two charismatic actors in Richard Gere and Terrence Howard.Narrated by Howard's Duck, a cameraman who's part of a tag team with Gere's gung-ho go- getting news reporter Simon, Duck recounts in the first 10 minutes the glory days of their partnership, where they brazenly dive right into conflict zones around the world just to live up the adrenaline, and gather awards, recognition and chicks along the way.
Fast forward to 5 years after the conflict in Bosnia had ended, Simon and Duck meet again, and the former proposes one more collaboration between the two, that of snagging the much sought after interview with the war criminal known as The Fox (Ljubomir Kerekes), with rookie Benjamin (Jesse Eisenberg) in tow.
The Hunting Party written and directed by Richard Shephard whose Matador I have seen a few weeks ago (and liked much more) is good action entertainment, but if you know nothing about the Balkans and the Balkan wars and you rely on this movie in order to get an idea about the tragedies and atrocities that happened 20 years ago in that part of Europe, you can get a distorted image about the region and the history.Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) is a TV reporter who was once famous.