The Rundown (2003)
Director: Peter Berg
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Sean William Scott, Christopher Walken, Rosario Dawson
Primary genre: Action
Secondary genre: Comedy
Watching The Rundown in 2025 amplifies substantially the film’s minor merits amidst a modern sea of badly made action flicks and lame motion pictures that try too hard to emulate the buddy-comedy genre. Sporting surprisingly solid comic timing and enough charisma to carry this vehicle alone, Dwayne Johnson - before he became a parody of himself two decades later on, demonstrated how he has what it takes to be a likeable (and bankable) action star. His Beck is not a one-liner machine nor does he have a taste for brutal violence. Despite his hulking physique, he prefers to get out of impossible situations by talking first. Yet, as refreshing as this sounds, we would not have the plot of this enjoyable movie if there was not some mano a mano shenanigans.
“I hate this place. I hate penis-eating minnows and I hate freaky fruit. I want to go home. I want concrete. I want homemade tortellini. I want my Los Angeles Lakers. I want to go home!”
The Rundown can be seen as an exotic and slicker Midnight Run (1988) with director Peter Berg continuously showing off the (obvious) Hawaiian landscapes doubling for the Amazon implementing everything that made the early 2000s edgy. He copies Michael Bay’s style - slo mo, sweaty bodies, frenetic editing - effectively including some really random character cards. To delve deeper on The Rundown would be pointless though since this is a straightforward film echoing old-school charm. Avoiding moral dilemmas or nuanced characterization, it is all about getting/saving a comedic sidekick from the clutches of a dastardly Christopher Walken while encountering an exotic a babe (a great Rosario Dawson) in the middle of jungle-nowhere.
Packed with aggressive stuntwork (a “tumbleweed” fall looks particularly spectacular) and fights which enhance Johnson’s physicality, Berg does not waste anyone’s time moving at a solid pace elevated by a vivid soundtrack from Harry Gregson-Williams. Sprinkled throughout are several successful laughs due to monkeys, bad tempered rebels, hallucinating trips and a very pleasant passing-of-the-action-torch cameo. Johnson is appealing enough to carry out these sequences in a way that previous action stars could not, rendering his efforts remarkably effective (e.g., “I want to go hooooooooooooooooome“). This is a guy who was not afraid to put himself into peculiar situations especially early on his career (e.g., his gay turn in Be Cool (2005) is the best thing in it).
Nevertheless, It all feels too familiar though especially during the climactic one-vs-many showdown where the energy starts to flag. The Rundown might be award-worthy material, but it ain’t stupid either. Aiming primarily to establish Johnson as the new leading action man, it succeeds.
Lighthearted action-comedy
+Johnson’s charisma and comic timing
+Aggressive stuntwork
+Solid action
+Good cast
-Archetypes
-Obvious Hawaii doubling for the Amazon
-Wasted Walken
-Banal climax