Review: Man Hunt

Ethan Wayne plays The Stranger, who gets on the wrong side of a local rancher (Ernest Borgnine) and wrongly accused of stealing his horses. Sent to a harsh prison run by Henry Silva, who tries to break the young man. Wayne is hell-bent on escaping and clearing his name (Does ‘The Stranger’ even count as a name though?). Bo Svenson plays a lawman, with Terry Lynch playing Borgnine’s daughter who sympathises with Wayne.

 

So far as the sons of John Wayne go, Patrick Wayne is probably the most recognisable having appeared alongside his dad in films like “The Searchers” before trying to branch out on his own in the likes of “The People That Time Forgot” and playing Pat Garrett in the first “Young Guns” movie. Then there’s Ethan Wayne, you might’ve seen him on TV’s “Pawn Stars” as an ‘expert’ on his dad’s memorabilia. Yeah OK, he also played Storm Logan on “The Bold and the Beautiful”, and an early role with his dad in the underrated “Big Jake”, but that “Pawn Stars” gig is obviously the most important. Anyway, here’s Ethan getting his own starring vehicle in a completely forgettable 1984 western-drama from director Fabrizio de Angelis (“Deadly Impact” with Bo Svenson), an Italian film shot in America. Looking nothing like his dad, Wayne has not even one tenth of the man’s charisma or presence. He’s a competent actor at best (and I’m being generous to be honest), and the character he plays here is so sullen and put-upon that it’s hard to care about him or his plight. This is our lead. It’s a big problem.

 

The director clearly tried to surround Wayne with much better actors, perhaps to compensate for his deficiencies. However, of the three recognisable faces here Ernest Borgnine is the most impressive almost by default. It’s not his finest hour but he does his best in a film that doesn’t deserve it. Borgnine’s character is more of an arsehole than a villain and you kinda feel like he should’ve been made a villain, because it really lacks a strong villainous presence. The film needs some juice. Something. Anything. Instead Borgnine’s a bullying jerk who has a sudden and illogical change of heart in the second half. It doesn’t remotely convince and it only happens simply because there’s two even bigger jerks for Wayne to contend with, and even they aren’t villainous enough (or prominent enough) for one to care about. Bo Svenson seems to be sleepwalking his way through his role as ‘Sheriff’, and while fun, Henry Silva is hardly taxing himself as ‘Prison boss’. Yes, those really are character names with Wayne credited as ‘Stranger’. The characters are stock, and so is the film. The only difference here is that in Italian films set in America, prison inmates tend to be shirtless all the time.

 

The one shining light here is the music score by Francesco de Masi (“The Arena”, the original “The Inglorious Bastards”, “Lone Wolf McQuade”, “Deadly Impact”), which if you squint might remind you of an Elmer Bernstein score. Don’t squint, that has nothing to do with music. That’s weird, don’t be weird. There’s some car chases and stunts in the film, and they’re fine if not particularly memorable.

 

You keep waiting for this western-drama to get exciting, violent, or weird even. It’s none of the three, it’s dry and forgettable, with basic story elements from hundreds of films prior and subsequent. It isn’t bottom of the barrel but it’s definitely in the bottom half of that barrel. Ethan Wayne is no actor, and this isn’t much of a film. Ernest Borgnine tries, but even when Bo Svenson is in a scene, he doesn’t really seem to be in the scene. You’ll know what I mean if you track the film down. Also, the film should’ve been titled “Everyone’s a Dick to John Wayne’s Kid” because that’s basically the plot. Based on a story by Dardano Sacchetti (“Deadly Impact”, “Cut and Run”, “Demons”), the by-the-numbers screenplay is by the director.

 

Rating: D+