"Runner Runner" Review

Hello all, I’m the Man without a Plan, returning yet again with another movie review. This time I’m taking a look at “Runner Runner”, where Justin Timberlake stars as Richie Furst, a Princeton grad student and gambling marketer who, when he finds out an online poker website cheated him out of his tuition, travels to Costa Rica to meet with the CEO, Ivan Block, played by Ben Affleck, and get his money back. Block is generous, rewarding his efforts and civility with not only the refund, but a job in his company, working as a senior affiliate. Richie thinks he’s living the highlife, but little does he know Block may have other sinister motives in mind.

Richie Furst is a severely weak character. He’s a Princeton grad student going for a Master’s degree in finance. He’s presented as exceptionally intelligent, analyzing many pools of data in no time. His hope is to become a broker on Wall Street, making lots of money, living the good life. So when Richie needs to find a way to pay off his college debt, why would he feel the need to resort to gambling?

He praises gambling’s intent to be purely fair; everyone has the same chances of winning. This may be true, but he forgets that not everyone has the same stakes to lose. He’s cemented in a position that could put him on the road to solving his problems and fulfilling his dreams, but is risking all his tuition and academic career for a chance at a quick fix. However, not only does he consider it a smart idea to gamble his money away, but also thinks it wise to travel to a foreign country, gain an audience with the head of a multi-million dollar company, and convince him to give his money back. How many average customers get to walk up to an office with complaints and get to speak with the head of management, no questions asked? Isn’t this what human resources departments are meant for? This plan carries no weight in the real world and serves as just a way to get Timberlake from point A to point B. Now, I wouldn’t blame Timberlake for most of this; he plays naïve and dumb convincingly enough, but the character is so inconsistent, it’s hard to take him seriously.

The rest of the cast is hit and miss. For the most part, the secondary characters are bland: the love interest is just a love interest, the corrupt politicians hammy, but not enough so to be memorable. Anthony Mackie delivers some laughs as an over-the-top FBI agent; his intense delivery of the typical cop dialogue gets chuckles out of me, especially the scene where he first threatens Richie with jail time and exile from the U.S. Ben Affleck has fun as Ivan Block. He’s laid-back and suave, but shows enough glee with his evil to resemble a decent Bond villain. Affleck’s having some fun here, and I rooted for him most of the film.

“Runner Runner” is intriguing. I haven’t seen a movie this jumbled in a long time. The plot seems to be pushed along, spitting out whatever ties can connect the dots and keep the movie going. Much of the dialogue relies on gambling puns and lingo not many people outside of the poker scene would understand, and unlike a movie like “21”, it doesn’t bother to help explain these complicated statistics and concepts to non-aficionados. By doing so, the scenes drag and the movie bores quickly. It tries to create suspense with its action scenes, but they ultimately feel weak, without much consequence. It tries to be dramatic, but interjects silly moments in-between that draw the audience out of the scene. Well, if it ends up silly, could I call it a comedy? Not at all, for the most part, the movie takes itself too seriously to seem self-aware. Overall, I think this is an exercise in trying to string together a quick thriller with some in-demand actors that ends up being forgettable and irritating. Some of the sets are appealing and the soundtrack works well, but it’s not worth the boredom. I’d say skip it.

Thank you very much for reading, I’m the Man without a Plan, and I’ll see you all later on the next movie review.

"Runner Runner" trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAz_oUxUuDg