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The rundown.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 8 Reviews
Kids Say 6 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

By Nell Minow , based on child development research. How do we rate?

Mildly entertaining action movie with The Rock.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 13+?

Drug references, drinking, hallucinogenic fruit.

A lot of non-graphic action violence, some characters killed. Characters in peri

Mild references, including adultery.

Any Positive Content?

Strong minority woman.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

A lot of non-graphic action violence, some characters killed. Characters in peril.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Role Models

Parents need to know that this movie has a lot of "action violence" (non-graphic). Beck makes it clear that he doesn't like guns because he believes he does too much damage with them. He does end up using guns and doing a lot of damage. There is a mild sexual reference and a few bad words. Characters drink and smoke and ingest a hallucinogenic fruit. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (8)
Kids say (6)

Based on 8 parent reviews

Missed some bad things

Not appropriately reviewed, what's the story.

THE RUNDOWN stars World Wrestling Entertainment's The Rock as Beck, an enforcer for a nasty bad guy named Walker. We first meet Beck in an entertaining nightclub brawl when he takes on a football team's entire offensive line to get some collateral on a gambling debt. His next assignment, the action-movie staple last big job that will free him and give him the stake to realize his dream (a restaurant), is to retrieve Walker's son Travis ( Seann William Scott ) who is off seeking treasure in Brazil. Beck and Travis end up on an Indiana Jones-style quest for a golden idol, fighting both sides in a local rebellion and fending off a pack of amorous monkeys.

Is It Any Good?

The Rundown is a likeable action movie with an almost-loveable star. Director Peter Berg keeps things moving briskly and knows how to show off The Rock's charm as well as his expertise at throwing people around. Berg does not do much with the talented Scott or the beautiful and talented Rosario Dawson who is saddled with a dreary spunky-girl role and an even drearier accent. Christopher Walken brings his usual weird vibe to the role of Hatcher, local oppressor.

Co-produced by the WWE's Vince McMahon, this movie has no aspirations for subtlety or wit, but it's mildly entertaining and, like its heroes, manages to avoid most of the obvious pitfalls.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about why Beck does not like guns.

Movie Details

In theaters : September 26, 2003
On DVD or streaming : March 23, 2004
Cast : Christopher Walken , Dwayne The Rock Johnson , Seann William Scott
Director : Peter Berg
Studio : Universal Pictures
Genre : Action/Adventure
Run time : 104 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : adventure violence and some crude dialogue
Last updated : March 25, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The Game Plan

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Cast & crew
User reviews

The Rundown

A tough aspiring chef is hired to bring home a mobster's son from the Amazon but becomes involved in the fight against an oppressive town operator and the search for a legendary treasure. A tough aspiring chef is hired to bring home a mobster's son from the Amazon but becomes involved in the fight against an oppressive town operator and the search for a legendary treasure. A tough aspiring chef is hired to bring home a mobster's son from the Amazon but becomes involved in the fight against an oppressive town operator and the search for a legendary treasure.

R.J. Stewart
James Vanderbilt
Dwayne Johnson
Seann William Scott
Christopher Walken
295 User reviews
153 Critic reviews
59 Metascore
2 wins & 3 nominations

Top cast 41

(as The Rock)

(as Stuart Wilson)

Head Indian Tracker
(as Paul Power)

Knappmiller

All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

Trivia Dwayne Johnson 's stunt double in this movie, his cousin Tanoai Reed , was nominated for and won the award for Best Overall Stunt by a Man at the 2004 Taurus World Stunt Awards.
Goofs Beck and Travis were attacked by African baboons.

Arnold Schwarzenegger : Have fun.

Crazy credits In the U.S. version, the only opening credit (after the Universal and Columbia logos) is "The Rundown" - and that appears eight minutes into the film. All other credits (actors, director, producers, writers, et al.) appear at the end of the film.
Alternate versions International prints swapped opening logos - Columbia was first, followed by Universal.
Connections Featured in Late Night with Conan O'Brien: The Rock/Isaac Mizrahi/Robert Randolph & The Family Band (2003)
Soundtracks Dixie Chicken Written by Lowell George , Martin Kibbee Performed by Little Feat Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc. by arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User reviews 295

Nov 23, 2004
How long is The Rundown? Powered by Alexa
What are the differences between the British Theatrical Version / BBFC 15 BD and the Original Version?
September 26, 2003 (United States)
United States
El Tesoro del Amazonas
Hawaii Film Studio - 510 18th Ave, Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA
Columbia Pictures
Universal Pictures
WWE Studios
See more company credits at IMDbPro
$85,000,000 (estimated)
$47,726,342
$18,553,765
Sep 28, 2003
$80,981,914

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour 44 minutes
Dolby Digital

More to explore

FILM IN REVIEW; 'The Rundown'

By Dave Kehr

Sept. 26, 2003

Directed by Peter Berg

PG-13, 98 minutes

With ''The Rundown,'' the professional wrestler known as the Rock (real name: Dwayne Douglas Johnson) makes a formal announcement of his candidacy for the post recently abandoned by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mr. Schwarzenegger himself graciously appears in a cameo, leaving a wild party in a disco as the Rock makes his way in. As they pass each other, Mr. Schwarzenegger salutes his would-be replacement. ''Have fun,'' he says, as if offering two words of career advice to his younger (though perhaps even larger) successor.

That's the only genuinely resonant moment in ''The Rundown,'' which opens today nationwide. The film is otherwise a strictly formulaic action picture that suggests some of Mr. Schwarzenegger's early, low-budget vehicles, like ''Commando'' (1985) and ''Raw Deal'' (1986). The Rock plays Beck, a reluctant enforcer for a Los Angeles loan shark who is sent to the jungles of Brazil (though the film was shot in Hawaii) to retrieve his boss's son Travis (Seann William Scott of the ''American Pie'' series).

But Travis isn't eager to return, having discovered the location of a valuable golden idol, cunningly concealed for centuries in a hidden, booby-trapped cave. Hatcher (Christopher Walken), the cynical American who owns and operates a hellish open-pit gold mine in the area, is also after Travis's secret, as is Mariana (Rosario Dawson), a local beauty who owns a bar but harbors a big secret of her own.

As Mr. Scott chatters, the Rock pummels, a dynamic that has surfaced in practically every buddy action picture since Walter Hill paired Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in ''48 Hrs.'' (1982). The casting of Mr. Walken immediately relieves the screenwriters, R. J. Stewart and James Vanderbilt, of the burden of writing a character for him: he delivers his standard creepy, campy performance, punctuated by a few feral yelps. And Ms. Dawson is, as always, an extremely attractive presence.

The director, Peter Berg (''Very Bad Things''), keeps the predictable story line on course without developing a truly compelling momentum in the action sequences or finding anything fresh in the interaction of the stock characters. One exceptional moment finds the Rock facing down a practitioner of Brazilian kick-boxing, a tiny man who, jabbing, jumping and swinging from handy vines, is just as quick and mercurial as the Rock is large and stolid. It's like watching a hippopotamus take on a mosquito, and the hippopotamus is the underdog.

''The Rundown'' is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It includes a lot of nongory comic book action and some mild suggestiveness. DAVE KEHR

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The Rundown Reviews

The Rock and Scott play an unconventional buddy team that has a similar dynamic to Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in Midnight Run, but without the acting ability or comic touch.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 18, 2019

The Rock and Seann William Scott work up some nice comic chemistry, but it's the dependably warped Walken who steals the most scenes. The frenetically edited fight sequences will satisfy the blood lust of the target audience.

Full Review | Mar 12, 2018

Mildly entertaining action movie with The Rock.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 29, 2010

The Rundown‘s tolerable and periodically engaging atmosphere is due almost entirely to the charm of (and chemistry between) The Rock and Scott’s respective figures...

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 6, 2010

A lot of fun and just a balls to the wall guy action flick...

Full Review | Apr 29, 2009

I think you can smell what the Rock is cooking: a dish that'll fatten your head but pleasantly plump your gut. [Blu-ray]

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 15, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 27, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 1, 2006

With charm, style and just a bit of winking intelligence, Johnson shows a magical ability to carry a picture from start to finish. If only the movie was worth the star's winning efforts.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 14, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 5, 2005

Sounds worse the more you talk about it.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | May 4, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 14, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 13, 2005

If, like me, you dismissed The Rundown as just another stupid action vehicle for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - get in the apology line behind me

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 30, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 20, 2004

It's Midnight Run with added insects but with only a twentieth of the humour and a hundredth of the charm.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Apr 23, 2004

It's slick, it's loud, and it's catalyzing--a gadfly of a film from a subversive filmmaker approaching the mainstream but not quite there yet.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 1, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 30, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 27, 2004