Hollywood dumbs down complex issues. Hollywood is formulaic. Hollywood blah, blah, blah. We’ve all heard the tired criticisms of America’s Dream Factory, but that doesn’t keep Hollywood from turning out entertaining movies on a relatively regular basis. However, “The Hunting Party” is an example of Hollywood at its worst. I would have been offended by the way this movie turns ethnic cleansing into a backdrop for buddy movie bonding, but this flick is so Hollywood that I felt the worst I could do was just sigh and roll my eyes.

Based on a funny, off-the-cuff Esquire article about five journalists who try to dig up a Bosnian war criminal and inadvertently create an international incident, “The Hunting Party” stars Richard Gere as a war correspondent in need of redemption who meets up with his one-time cameraman, played by Terence Howard, and a greenhorn producer/intern to go on a quest to capture a war criminal … and beat him up. Mr. Gere turns in a fine performance despite a script that swerves wildly from Harlequin romance to black comedy. Jesse Eisenberg, playing the intern, merely imitates Adam Goldberg. Terence Howard looks like he just stepped out of an advertisement for Polo menswear and I was too distracted by the endless succession of sweaters he had draped over his shoulders to pay attention to his performance. Right before the end credits roll, you’re treated to a jaunty, mini-essay about the film you just watched, showing which parts of each scene were a lie (the U.N. high command did not import Dunkin Donuts), which parts were true (there really was a midget black marketeer), and which parts were too outrageous to be included (too many to relate here). The essay is funny, it’s interesting, and it’s too bad that you have to sit through this movie to see it.