A college student facing serious financial troubles turns to a life of gambling after given the opportunity of a lifetime. Sound familiar?
At first, I thought “Runner Runner” would be just like “21,” but the film quickly took off from that subplot and became a story of its own. Starring Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck, “Runner, Runner” tells the story of Richie Furst, a college student (Timberlake) trying to get his degree when he bets and loses all of his money in an online poker game. Things lead to other things and he is given the opportunity to work with his idol of Ivan Block, who owns the website that he was duped on.
Full of threats, action and comedy, the film was generally entertaining. Although you could pick out the numerous cliché moments one by one, the way they were delivered made it new. Intense moments arose out of Block, in which Affleck perfectly finds the right combination of cynical forcefulness to make his character seem so ruthless on screen.
The film was pretty enjoyable once you get past the fact that the entire movie is full of one-liners and inadequate character development. There was barely any time spent in trying to initiate a date between Furst and Rebecca Shafron (Block’s partner/lover, played by Gemma Arterton) and yet the audience is to believe that they immediately fall in love and can read each other’s thoughts.
The same problem arises out of the entire plot of the movie – it goes by too fast for the audience to rationalize the characters’ motives. Furst, literally bankrupt and has no connections to anyone or anything, somehow manages to get enough money to buy an airplane ticket to Costa Rica, afford a pretty fancy hotel room (before being upgraded to another) and somehow manages to meet Ivan Block within the first day of landing there. While I do understand the filmmakers were trying to move the plot along, this is hard to overlook even with the minimal evidence placed on screen.
Affleck created realistic drama wherever he went on screen, from that famous line in the trailer to even trying to show Furst what they do to people who betray him. Probably one of the most enjoyable scenes was when Block tried to feed Herrera (Yul Vazquez) to a pile of hungry alligators after a deal gone wrong. Furst, who was beaten by Herrera, pleas for his life, which was delivered with great emotional strength by Timberlake. Anthony Mackie, who played Agent Shavers, also delivers a stellar performance.
“Runner Runner” is now playing.
-Catherina Gioino
