This had to be embarrassing for the actors. Not only were Rooney, Caan, and Dern excellent in their roles, but so was everyone else. The performances are excellent.
The trouble is the screenplay.
It's no secret that this is a "Most Dangerous Game" story. I won't spoil it by saying who wins, although you can guess easily, with Caan playing the beloved surfer, and from New York to boot, and what screenplay ever showed a New York boy get killed? Will this be the first one?
The story line is in a day and age when perhaps somewhere a sheriff might actually play the most dangerous game, but it really wasn't possible after about 1975, and this was well before that.
However, the sheriff is very blatant about it, and the script is a perfect example of "expository" and "contrived".
The real problem is the character played by Caan. He doesn't play a "survivor". He plays a moron who stick his nose in where no survivor would ever stick his nose into.
A bit of cockiness does count to survival, but not being an outright moron. Yet, when he is hunted, he turns into a thinking person and tries not to "break jail", which his character isn't savvy enough to think about the dangers, and he also thinks of ways to beat the scent that the dogs follow. Again, one would think that some of the seven people who were killed before his hunt would have thought of that before a moron like this arrogant, superior minded character would think of it.
The ending is also contrived. This truly is the worst of the most dangerous game stories, saved only by excellent acting from top to bottom.
The trouble is the screenplay.
It's no secret that this is a "Most Dangerous Game" story. I won't spoil it by saying who wins, although you can guess easily, with Caan playing the beloved surfer, and from New York to boot, and what screenplay ever showed a New York boy get killed? Will this be the first one?
The story line is in a day and age when perhaps somewhere a sheriff might actually play the most dangerous game, but it really wasn't possible after about 1975, and this was well before that.
However, the sheriff is very blatant about it, and the script is a perfect example of "expository" and "contrived".
The real problem is the character played by Caan. He doesn't play a "survivor". He plays a moron who stick his nose in where no survivor would ever stick his nose into.
A bit of cockiness does count to survival, but not being an outright moron. Yet, when he is hunted, he turns into a thinking person and tries not to "break jail", which his character isn't savvy enough to think about the dangers, and he also thinks of ways to beat the scent that the dogs follow. Again, one would think that some of the seven people who were killed before his hunt would have thought of that before a moron like this arrogant, superior minded character would think of it.
The ending is also contrived. This truly is the worst of the most dangerous game stories, saved only by excellent acting from top to bottom.