Hunting Games (2023)

**_Armed men fighting to the death in the Great Northwest_**

This is a direct-to-streaming indie with a modest budget, but it delivers the goods for a crime-oriented action/adventure thriller. The writer/director, Justin Lee, knows how to make a compelling entertainment without overthinking things. Iconic actors like Bruce Dern and Danny Trejo show up in peripheral roles, but the meat of the story involves Chris Tamburello as grieving lumberjack, who enjoys hunting when the season begins, and Ed Morrone as a no-nonsense man on a (dubious) mission.

These guys could be friends apart from the dire situation in which they find themselves. It’s a battle of stubborn wills between a seasoned combat veteran and an average man who feels he has nothing left to lose, except maybe his life. You could say the most dangerous man is one who doesn’t care if he lives or dies.

Paige Sturges, Skye Madsen and Kelly Lynn Reiter are featured on the feminine front, but only Paige’s role amounts to much.

What I like about Lee’s films is that he fleshes out his characters with mundane dialogues that are revelatory in one way or another. There’s a quiet confidence to the filmmaking and he never allows proceedings to bog down.

Comparable movies include “A Simple Plan,” “The Edge,” "Deliverance” and "First Blood," just made with the low budget of television flicks such as "Nightmare at Bittercreek" and "Relentless" (1977).

It runs 1h 33m and was shot in Oroville in north-central Washington, and points nearby.

GRADE: B+