It’s not often that Ray Winstone gets to be the lead in a film. A talented actor, talented enough to stand out from Jack Nicholson’s massive shadow in The Departed and holding his own opposite Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness, he doesn’t get many opportunities to get his own film. And with Tracker he does, but it’s a shame because it’s a fairly pedestrian film that manages to have him in nearly every scene and still find ways to underuse him.
Arajan (Winstone) is a bounty hunter who goes to New Zealand on a mission of vengeance. Winding up working with the British, who killed his family in the Boer War, he has one goal: track down a Maori seaman (Temuera Morrison) accused of killing a British soldier. He’s innocent, of course, but Arajan doesn’t know it. Tracking the man down, the duo ends up bonding and Arajan is left with a decision. Does he let a man he thinks innocent, but is told that is guilty, go? Or does he follow the letter of the law his bosses have demanded from him?
But here’s the thing: the film takes the requisite cop/criminal dynamic and does nothing with it. This is nothing more than a paint by numbers film, with Winstone and Morrison given nothing to really work with that’s intriguing. They have notes to hit and they do it fairly well but there’s nothing new or exciting about the film. We know exactly what’s going to happen and it happens fairly often on cue. It has a new setting, turn of the century New Zealand, but there’s nothing else new or original about it.
That wouldn’t be a problem if the film was engaging; even formulaic material can become fascinating when you have the right amount of quality to it. But the problem is that the film doesn’t. The plot is pedestrian and so is the dialogue; it’s a shame because neither actor is set up to succeed. Ray Winstone is good with moments where he isn’t using dialogue, where his ability to look menacing counts for more than his ability to deliver a line. Here he’s much more concerned with dialogue and moments as opposed to looking like the tough guy he is.
Tracker never saw theatres in America for a reason: it’s a mediocre film we’ve seen before, ad nausea, and doesn’t do anything to overcome its formulaic nature.
There are brief Interviews with the principle members of the cast and the film’s Theatrical Trailer.
Ray Winstone deserves more than being in DTV schlock like this.
Lionsgate presents Tracker . Directed by Ian Sharp. Starring Ray Winstone, Temuera Morrison. Written by Nicolas van Pallandt. Running time: 101 minutes. Not rated. Released on DVD: August 23, 2011. Available at Amazon.com.
