The Rockuary: "The Rundown"

If you were like me, and dismissed "The Rundown" during it's theatrical run as just another stupid action vehicle for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - well, get in the apology line behind me, because you owe one to everyone involved for judging a book by it's cover. "The Rundown" is good. Perhaps it's not genre-revolutionizing and life-altering good. But it's definitely snappy one-liners and bone-crunching action good, and that's good enough for me.

"The Rundown" is one of those movies that just comes together. You expect it to be dumb, but it's refreshingly clever. You expect the acting to range anywhere from mediocre to horrible, and everyone in the cast rises to the occasion and turns in a damn solid performance. You expect the action scenes to be pedestrian, and you are giddily surprised to find a director with a sharp eye at the helm, who knows just how to get the most out every flying scissor-kick or thug getting a blunt object cracked over his head. There's a torch-passing cameo in the opening scene, where The Rock brushes against Arnold Schwarznegger in the hall of a nightclub, and the Governator just smiles at him and says "Have Fun." Never has such an exhortation been taken to heart so well. It's that sense of fun that constantly uplifts "The Rundown", and gives you a new found respect for directors like Peter Berg (VERY BAD THINGS) and even guys like The Rock or Sean William Scott, who manage to rise above the niches they've been typecast into.

Rock plays Beck, a very tough dude who runs down people to collect on their gambling debts in order to pay off one of his own. Despite his talent for breaking bones and laying out guys who are twice his size, he's really just a nice guy who hates guns, doesn't like hurting people, and who wants to get out of "the life" and open a quiet restaurant somewhere. He's given the chance to do just that if he does one last job for his boss - find the Boss's son down in the jungles of Brazil. It seems that Travis (Sean William Scott) ran off to become a treasure hunter after sleeping with the wrong guy's wife. Now he has to come back to face the music.

Beck takes the job and goes looking for Travis, making the acquaintance of sexy bartender Marianna (Rosario Dawson) in the process. Finding Travis is the easy part. Getting him back home is another story, since local crime overlord and slave driver Hatcher (Christopher Walken, in top form) is looking for a valuable artifact that Travis claims to know the whereabouts of.

What ensues is a lot of chasing and fighting in the jungle, a lot of funny exchanges between Scott and The Rock, and plenty of hilarious dialogue from Walken in his unsurpassed deadpan style (His "Tooth Fairy" analogy is bound to be quoted repeatedly by fans). But best of all are the fight scenes, which are full of energy and great camera angles and some really fantastic choreography. Sure, they're used as a showcase for The Rock's Wrestlemania moves, but they work. If you're an action fan, seeing how much furniture the rock breaks over people's heads will constantly bring a smile to your face.

I don't know if The Rock will really become as big as Schwarzenegger was in his prime, but making movies like "The Rundown" is certainly a way to get off on the right foot. Likewise, his progress as an actor is impressive when compared to 2002's "Scorpion King". He's not going to be ready to do any Shakespeare festivals anytime soon, but he sells the role with a combination of an intimidating demeanor and likable gruffness. If you're in the mood for a solid two hours of one-liners and good ass-kicking, "The Rundown" is definitely worth running down to the video store for.