‘The Hunter’ tracks loner’s unlikely quest

Environmentalist tale works thanks to focus on people.

An ecological thriller about a professional animal killer and loner who discovers a newfound sense of stewardship for the planet — along with a concern for other people — “The Hunter” is engrossing and thoughtful entertainment.

Based on a 1999 novel by Australian writer Julia Leigh, the film stars Willem Dafoe as Martin, an elite hunter who has been hired by a mysterious firm to bag the last remaining example of a Tasmanian tiger.

Though the firm’s reasons for wanting the animal are murky, they become clearer — and more clearly nefarious — as the mystery unfolds.

Martin’s efforts to track the animal are hampered by unseen (and possibly dangerous) enemies: radical environmentalists, or “greenies,” who want to save the tiger; local loggers who have somehow mistaken him for one of the greenies; and rival hunters.

Martin, in short, becomes both hunter and hunted. That’s one part of the story.

The other, more interesting, part involves Martin’s relationship with Lucy (Frances O’connor) — a greenie in whose remote Tasmanian house he has set up camp — and her two children (Morgana Davies and Finn Woodlock).

Although it behooves him to remain emotionally uninvolved, Martin can’t help developing feelings for Lucy, whose husband has recently disappeared and is presumed dead. But Lucy’s kids also insinuate themselves into Martin’s affections.

Australian television director Daniel Nettheim tells both stories well, braiding them together into a single thread with a firm hand and evocative visual style.

But the film’s neatest trick isn’t getting us to be- lieve in a beast that today exists only in mounted displays at museums and in old black-and-white video clips. It’s convincing us of Martin’s transformation from hardboiled mercenary to almost-family man, precipitated by a tragedy that reveals the true heartlessness of his employer.

Dafoe carries off both extremes of Martin’s character with aplomb and psychological depth.

At the core of the movie is the message that the real lonely hunter is the heart. “The Hunter” Grade: B Starring Willem Dafoe and Frances O’connor. Directed by Daniel Nettheim.

for language and brief violence. At Landmark Midtown. 1 hour, 41 minutes. Bottom line: A mystery with a message.

MATT NETTHEIM / MAGNOLIA PICTURES Willem Dafoe (right) plays a man who finds his life in jeopardy when he’s hired to track down an endangered animal in “The Hunter.”