Runner Runner (directed by Brad Furman; 1:31): C+ The Princeton scenes seemed unrefined and unfinished but also overedited, as if the director set a goal of getting to Costa Rica 10 minutes in. By the way, do screenwriters and directors know what an academic Dean does/is?! Justin Timberlake seemed very boy-like acting opposite Ben Affleck and Gemma Arterton. The artwork for the film shows a puffed up, furrowed browed JT looking somewhat menacingly in the vicinity of Affleck. Nothing could be further from the truth in the film. JT seems to always have a childish grin on his face and he can’t be more than 1/3 of Affleck’s frame. (And there is never any real physical tension between the two.) Heck, Arterton towers over JT and has wider shoulders than him. And JT’s performance is basically his Sean Parker performance toned down a bit. All of this is to say that this was not likely as could as he could have performed. Arterton was underutilized, basically just treated as arm candy. The director tells us little about her. And for someone who’s been utterly betrayed by men in the past, she seems utterly ridiculously quick to put all of her trust in someone she just met. There is a major plot point about JT’s dad, who is a degenerate gambler. But it all feels forced and the scenes with the dad just seem inserted to mechanically move the story along. Presumably, the director would like us to feel something for the father (and for the relationship between the son and the father), but he doesn’t come close to accomplishing this. This all comes to play later in the movie. When that scene happened, my first thought was, “Who really cares about this guy? Not even JT seems to care all that much.” The audience never seemed to really feel like something big/important was at stake. The movie lacked any real conflict or tension that mattered. Yeah, because FBI agents work alone in foreign countries. Anthony Mackie was absolutely the right choice to play the EFF-BEE-EYE agent. He tried his best, but it seems like the director purposely chose to use his goofy takes as the ones to put in the film. If I remember correctly, there seemed to be an abundance of unnecessary, creepy close-ups. Finally, the movie has the type of ending that seems to suffer from too many audience tests and focus groups. I fully expect the DVD special features to include multiple alternate endings, which are likely better than the schlocky, Hollywood ending we saw (which just seemed to wrap up everything all too easily and conveniently). Yeah, because FBI agents who work alone in foreign countries tracking their man for years are content to let key witnesses flee as long as they have their flash drive (which they have not yet checked)! Hell to the yeah! By the way, I have not yet seen “The Take,” but I did see some of “The Lincoln Lawyer,” and the latter seemed okay. “Runner Runner” represents a step back in the evolution of Brad Furman as a director.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 02:50:10 +0000
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