Running Scared

Year: 2006

Grade: B-

Country: USA

Director: Kramer

Review

a tough film to evaluate. it could be either really good or really bad, though as a result, i probably place it somewhere in the middle. i think most would place it in the really bad category because it’s not a very realistic picture, even for an action flick. it tracks the passage from hand to hand of a gun that, at the beginning of the film, is used to kill a dirty cop. this gun then ends up being used by a kid to shoot his father and goes through the hands of a crack dealer, pimp, janitor, mobster, etc. all within an 18 hour period. clearly this film is beyond unbelievable. if you go into the film knowing that, though, and viewing it as a sort of dark fairy tale, then you might get something out of it. this is because the film goes to dark places that many fear to tread. it depicts the world in an unusually dark and sinister way and is compelling at least for that reason.

vera farmiga is the real reason to see the film. she was great in the departed and she’s great here as well. paul walker is mostly bad and keeps the film down, but that’s expected. a brutal film with some novel visuals.