The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 208 Days to go: 145
Movie #230: The Rundown
My husband has had The Rundown since I’ve known him, and I thought I’d managed to put off seeing it until now. Turns out I’ve totally seen it, only it’s not the one where The Rock comes back to his hometown to kick some ass or whatever. It’s the other The Rock movie.
The Rundown is an odd film, like if the screenplay was written using Mad Libs. For example:
Former Wrestler-Turned-Actor’s Name: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Male Singer with only one name: Beck. Euphemism for bounty hunter: Retrieval Expert. Spastic yet kind of funny/handsome/charming actor: Seann William Scott. Tropical location: Amazon rainforest. Legitimate crazy person actor: Christopher Walken. Spanish word for an animal: Gato. Common Weapon (plural): Guns. Atypical Weapon: Whip. Jungle Animal (plural): Monkeys. Sexy yet badass vaguely “ethnic” chick: Rosario Dawson.
And the final result:
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars as Beck, a Retrieval Expert hired to bring back his boss’s son Travis (Seann William Scott) from the Amazon rainforest. Travis is in debt to a man named Hatcher (Christopher Walken), who rules the village with an iron fist, enslaving the locals through force and violence. Beck purchases Travis from Hatcher, but Hatcher reneges on the deal, when he discovers Travis has found the mythical ancient treasure of El Gato, a golden statue worth millions. Beck fights Hatcher’s men, though he refuses to use guns. There is an elaborately choreographed fight scene, which culminates in Beck fighting off a man with a whip. Beck escapes with Travis but they get lost in the jungle, humped by monkeys and are in trouble with the local rebels until it’s revealed that sexy bartender Mariana (Rosario Dawson) is the rebel leader. She strikes a deal to help them out of the jungle if Travis will lead her to El Gato. He does so, but she runs off with it for reasons, probably, before getting caught by Hatcher. Beck has to return to the village to save Mariana, retrieve El Gato, and free the villagers. He has a fierce fight — including a huge brawl with three men with whips — but eventually has to use guns even though he hates them. With Hatcher defeated, Beck and Travis return to the U.S. for Beck to earn his bounty, before paralyzing his boss and allowing Travis to escape. The End.
So, yeah. It’s pretty dumb and extremely thin and there’s just not much to recommend it except for the fact that all these actors are clearly having a lot of fun with their ridiculous roles (except maybe Dawson, who seems a little disappointed). They put on a goofy show, make a lot of dumb jokes, and get you in and out in under two hours no worse for wear. I’ve endured worse evenings than this, is what I’m saying. And I really like The Rock, in spite of myself.
Viable Option 