The Hunted (2003) is an action thriller police procedural starring Benicio Del Toro as Aaron Hallam, a special operations forces (SOF) operator, and Tommy Lee Jones as the SOF contractor who trained him to kill. Connie Nielsen plays Special Agent Abby Durrell.
Premise: The FBI and a deep-woods tracker attempt to capture a trained assassin who has made a sport of hunting humans.
Trained as an assassin by the military, the main character suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which results in flashbacks and nightmares of his Kosovo War experiences. He discovers hunters in the woods and believes they were sent by the government to kill him. He hunts them down and slaughters them using a lethal knife.
The murders occur on federal land, and the FBI forms a task force to apprehend him. After many foot chases, car crashes, and dead agents, Hallam, the severely disturbed SOF operator and his mentor engage in hand-to-hand combat before he dies from his injuries.
The movie is not something I would choose to watch for pleasure. It’s basically a rehashing of Rambo, the famous film about law enforcement hunting a fugitive trained by the military to evade capture. It’s all action and very little story.
I’ve reviewed over seventy TV shows and movies to find teachable moments about FBI policies, procedures, and programs. After viewing The Hunted, key lessons to highlight include the FBI’s techniques for tracking fugitives, such as interviewing witnesses, monitoring cell phones, physical and aerial surveillance, and using tracking dogs.
The primary tool that agents assigned to find fugitives use is the Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution (UFAP) warrant.
Hallam is initially sought for the crime of murder on federal land, providing the FBI with jurisdiction. He fled the scene. Once he is caught and then escapes, he becomes a fugitive from justice. And it can be assumed that he is additionally charged with UFAP. The primary purpose of a UFAP warrant is to authorize the FBI to assist local and state officers in apprehending fugitives from state justice. However, as in this case, fugitives can, of course, also be charged with federal violations and wanted directly by the FBI.
I have done many interviews on fugitive investigations. The two related to hunting fugitives in the woods are:
125: Keith Tolhurst – Grand Canyon Prison Escapee, Tracking Dogs
369: Jeremy Rebmann – Chronicles of an FBI Sniper, SWAT
The Hunted is streaming on Pluto TV. Watch the official trailer here.
