THE ELUDED

We all know about The Hunted. Almost two years ago, Hollywood came slumming in the City of Roses and Portland obliged obsequiously. Sure, there were some uncomfortable moments--the bogarting of the Hawthorne Bridge, the realistic fake explosions in the North hills not too long after 9/11 that had some diving into their bomb shelters, the marring of Benicio Del Toro's handsome wrist--but the magical morphing of these two distinct cultures will always be remembered, even if the movie isn't. Like all good colonists, our friends from Hollywood came to town, used us and threw us aside like so many spent geishas. But that doesn't mean the natives were feckless. This page, expunged from the screenplay of the Rambo-come-lately film that opens nationwide on Friday, was found left in the director's hotel suite.

The plot thus far:
When FBI agent Abby Durrell (Connie Nielsen) shows tracker and former Special Forces trainer L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones) some grisly photographs of deer hunters who have been butchered in the Oregon wilderness, Bonham knows immediately that the perpetrator is one of his former students, Aaron Hallam (Benicio Del Toro). Bonham heads to Portland to set up a base from which to find his murderous acolyte.

The first missing scene:

Bonham, upon arriving in Portland, seeks help from crack reporter and most trusted news source in Portland, Tracy Barry of KGW NewsChannel 8. Bonham believes if he can get a picture of Hallam on TV, he will uncover his whereabouts before the Portland Police have a chance to bungle the case by shooting Hallam with "pellets."

INTERIOR: News studio. Tracy Barry is applying her layers of pancake before facing the camera.

BONHAM: Tracy Barry? The name's Bonham. I was told you might be able to help me find someone.

BARRY: What am I, Missing Persons? Look, Buddy, I've got a show to do, so lose yourself.

BONHAM: I'm hunting a murderer. Here's his picture.

CLOSE-UP: A candid shot of Del Toro, as Hallam, enjoying a night at Mary's Club.

BARRY: (throwing pancake pad down) My God!

BONHAM: Have you seen him?

BARRY: No, but...those hooded, bedroom eyes, the sheer rugged, seedy manliness....

BONHAM: You're talking about a vicious killer.

BARRY: (abruptly brought back to reality) What? Oh. Yeah. And you're...hunting him?

BONHAM: Some men must be found.

BARRY: (hopefully) I agree. May I...keep the photo?

BONHAM: My number's on the back. You can find me at the Kent Hotel. (LEAVES ROOM)

BARRY: (picking up phone) Get me Kimberly Maus at 12, then call Julie Emry at KOIN!

The second missing scene: Barry has gathered together Julie Emry, Kimberly Maus and KATU's Natali Marmion and Cathy Marshall over drinks. Barry has given each a copy of the photograph.)

INTERIOR: Boogie Woogies, a table littered with daiquiri glasses.

MARMION: Jesus Christ, he's so hot!

EMRY: (suggestively) He can hunt me down.

BARRY: But this Bonham character is tracking him, and I think the FBI is in on it, too.

MAUS: (worriedly) We've gotta help him.

MARSHALL: That's what I was thinking. At least try and warn him.

BARRY: We need to split up for a search. I'm willing to take the Southeast--Fantasy, Sassy's and that steak joint the Acropolis. Julie, I'm giving you downtown--he seems to like Mary's Spot. Kim, I'm sending you to Union Jacks and Dancin' Bare. Natali and Cathy, hit the lingerie shows.

MARMION: I just hope we find him in time!

In the finished picture, Special Forces operatives finally pick up Hallam (Del Toro) in Portland after a series of spectacular car crashes and explosions. There's a scene where a light-rail train goes off the Hawthorne Bridge into the Willamette River.

The last missing scene is back on the Hawthorne Bridge. The news anchors, believing Hallam was on board the sunken train, have festooned the surviving guardrail with balloons, letters of affection and teddy bears. They hug each other consolingly.

ANNA SONG: (Reporting live the from the scene, as always) Paul, it's now the day after the tragic light-rail accident that claimed a girls' soccer team from Tigard, along with an outing of day-release patients heading to the offices of Willamette Week for free movie passes. But it's the death of suspected mass-murderer Aaron Hallam that has shocked and touched this small community of news anchors. As you can see behind me, Paul, they've created a makeshift memorial to the hot, unconventionally handsome killer. I spoke to one of the mourners, Tracy Barry of KGW, who said, quote, "There are many of us wondering why this disaster had to happen in Portland."

WWeek 2015