Film: Tracker
Year of production: 2010
UK Release date: 23rd May 2011
Distributor: Kaleidoscope
Certificate: 12
Running time: 98 mins
Director: Ian Sharp
Starring: Ray Winstone, Temuera Morrison, Andy Anderson, Mark Mitchinson, Gareth Reeves
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Thriller
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country of Production: New Zealand/UK
Language: English
Review by: Daryl Wing
English-born director, Ian Sharp’s best work is arguably five episodes for the excellent television series Robin Of Sherwood (1984). Most of his other credits have also been for the gogglebox, whether it be a movie or part of a continuing drama. It’s therefore hard to get too excited about his return after an eight year absence; that is until you discover heavyweights Ray Winstone (who also found fame in Sherwood) and Temuera Morrison (the one and only Jango Fett) star in his freshest offering, Tracker, set in New Zealand’s spectacular landscape.
It’s 1903, and Arjan (Winstone), a guerrilla survivor of the South African Boer War, has landed in colonial New Zealand and is promised a generous bounty to capture Kereama (Morrison), a Maori seafarer accused of killing a British soldier.
Being such a successful tracker, what should be a simple job for Arjan turns into a dangerous game of cat and mouse, as Kereama is no fool himself, repeatedly escaping, all the while insisting he is innocent.
As each man gains and loses the upper hand, they find they have more in common than simply a mutual hatred of the British, who aren’t far behind, by now suspicious of Arjan and desperate to capture Kereama once and for all…
Tracker is a decent enough, albeit extremely clichéd buddy drama, which marginally establishes itself with some satisfying action along the way. It takes a while to get to the good stuff, though, even after an impressive opening gambit that sees Kereama cavorting with an English girl before being framed for the killing of a soldier during a scuffle in which he manages to escape. From that, there’s certainly not a great deal of originality on offer, and not a lot to keep an audience interested until Arjan finally tracks down his man.
It’s not so much a matter of whom the killer is, which would certainly help a thin plot (this act is revealed straight away), rather how long you have to wait before he or she finally catches up with the man pleading his innocence, and what they plan on doing with him. This, sadly, is barely given time to be answered. What the film does offer to keep boredom at bay, at least for the dull opening act, is some wonderful scenery that just longs to be explored further. It really is a beautiful film, and carries you through the dire moments lacking conflict as Arjan tracks and Kereama fishes, Arjan tracks and Kereama lights a fire, Arjan reads and Kereama sleeps – exhilarating stuff, for sure.
When the film does finally take off (the edge of a cliff, no less), what it then provides is some strong performances from a cast surely thankful Winstone is on board, even if his South African accent is slightly rubbish, and probably explains why he spends half the movie mumbling to himself. Morrison has his shaky moments, too, but gamely assumes the role of wise, intellectual man slightly off his rocker, and acquits himself well, proving he does have the ability when presented with the right material.
If the two of them aren’t scuffling, they’re spouting proverbs and lines from the Book of Books, or banging on about their past lives, so we don’t have to watch lengthy flashbacks that could hinder this already plodding thriller. When Morrison grumbles, “I should kill you for just being annoying,” it would make more sense and be more fun if said in unison, then interrupted by Gollum, still searching for his ring, which in turn would explain the spare finger in Arjan’s handkerchief, and allow us to indulge in some more breathtaking scenery.
A couple of cheap gags threaten to turn the film into a Sunday afternoon stroll, the worst offender emanating from the predictable downpour after Kereama proclaims he can predict the weather. And what with the constant preaching and another lazy scene that has Winstone falling for the oldest trick in the book, when he assumes it’s safe to go for a swim, Tracker almost derails. Fortunately, after much grudging mutual respect, a bizarre brawl from the ageing warriors and the arrival of the Brits means that the film grows stronger and stronger, daring to even add a satisfying twist ending that touches on exciting.
Obviously, the movie could have ended before it even began if a prostitute who could clear Kereama’s name admitted to what she had seen, and why Arjan doesn’t immediately take his captive back as promised is never explained, while the Sergeant Major’s vendetta is barely explored, creating missed chances and more fanciful fisticuffs aplenty (Winstone is oddly agile). And yet, throughout, Tracker manages to avoid its director’s television trappings, and, at the same time, won’t do the New Zealand Tourist Board any harm either.
An entertaining if slow-moving film, Tracker suffers from a stuttering start and lacks any kind of originality whatsoever. Luckily, it’s a feast for the eyes, and its leads, Winstone and Morrison, offer enough of a presence to keep this clichéd buddy movie lumbering along. DW
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