MOVIE REVIEW - "RUNNER RUNNER" Release Date: 26th September 2013 Rating: MA15+ Director(s): Brad Furman Stars: Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton & Anthony Mackie Run Time: 91 min’s Trailer: bit.ly/1b5uuW5 Score: 3¾ out of 5 Runner Runner is a fairly predictable flick in which a cut-throat, win-at-all-costs tycoon (Affleck) befriends a younger guy (Timberlake) whose admiration of the older guy makes him ripe for manipulation. Younger guy dreams of living the glamorous like of the mega-rich; & whilst smart, is just naïve enough to take things on face value. Along the way younger guy falls for the tycoon’s hottie ‘kind-of-girlfriend’ (Arterton), as well as being dragged in by the authorities (Mackie) who are chasing the slippery big fish… HANG ON, isn’t that Wall Street? No, WS was about the stock market, & this centres around the world of online poker. Actually, there’s a chance this is in fact WS … albeit with a bit of Kevin Spacey’s 21 & a lot of Affleck’s character from the tragically under-rated 2000-released Boiler Room. But in spite of its blatant lack of originality, the charisma of Affleck & Timberlake make RR one hell of an immensely watchable guilty pleasure. And unlike so many flicks these days that seem to equate running time with quality, RR doesn’t overstay its welcome at a tight 91 minutes. If anything, one of my few quibbles with this flick was that it could’ve actually benefited from an extra 5 or 10 minutes to towards the end for a bit more exposition. Speaking of exposition, Timberland is Princeton grad student Richie who, believing he’s been cheated on Affleck’s massive online gambling site, travels to Costa Rica to challenge him. But what Richie wasn’t expecting was Affleck’s Ivan not only apologising, but then offering him a job as effectively his right-hand man, with the promise of untold wealth. Naturally all is not quite as it seems … but hey, things never look too good to be true, do they? If you can ignore the ever-so-slight lack of originality, RR has a lot to offer as a harmless, fun Saturday Night flick for both the boys & girls. Oh, & if like me the only things you know about poker are that 1. it’s played with cards & 2. the vast majority of players lose more than they win, don’t worry … no poker knowledge is necessary.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 00:21:59 +0000
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