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Running Scared (2005)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.6/10
Reviews Counted: 129
Fresh: 52 | Rotten: 77

This film runs with frenetic energy punctuated by gratuitous violence but sorely lacks in plot, character development and stylistic flair.

Average Rating: 4.4/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 22

This film runs with frenetic energy punctuated by gratuitous violence but sorely lacks in plot, character development and stylistic flair.

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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 130,807

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Movie Info

A minor crook finds himself in major peril when a "hot" weapon goes missing in this violent crime thriller. Joey Gazelle (Paul Walker) is a low-level "mechanic" in the Mafia who hopes to rise through the ranks by doing whatever is needed. One night, a drug deal goes very wrong when police show up and try to close down the operation; shots break out and a battle ensues, with a pair of of cops meeting a particularly violent fate at bad end of a gun barrel. Joey is given the gun that killed the

R, 1 hr. 59 min.

Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Wayne Kramer

Written By: Wayne Kramer

In Theaters: Feb 24, 2006 Wide

On DVD: Jun 6, 2006

Box Office:$6.7M

New Line Cinema

Running Scared Trailer & Photos

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Cast

Paul Walker
Joey Gazelle
Cameron Bright
Oleg Yugorsky
Vera Farmiga
Teresa Gazelle
Karel Roden
Anzor "Duke" Yugorsky
Johnny Messner
Tommy "Tombs" Perello
Ivana Milicevic
Mila Yugorsky
Chazz Palminteri
Detective Rydell
Alex Neuberger
Nicky Gazelle
Michael Cudlitz
Sal "Gummy Bear" Franzo...
Bruce Altman
Dez
Elizabeth Mitchell
Adele
Arthur J. Nascarella
Perello
John Noble
Ivan Yugorsky
Idalis de Leon
Divina
David Warshofsky
Pimp Lester

Critic Reviews for Running Scared

All Critics (134) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (79) | DVD (22)

Presumably patterned after Robert Rodriguez's Sin City, but substantially more graphic, there is surely an audience for this empty brutality, but you would not want to know anyone to whom this picture appeals.

March 11, 2006 Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

| Comment (1)

Hap Erstein

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Top Critic

The end result of all these cross-mob confrontations is an orgy of nihilistic violence that is curiously exhilarating, I am almost ashamed to say.

March 1, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Observer

| Comment

Andrew Sarris

New York Observer

Top Critic

It's ugly and it's vile and it's disgusting and it's creepy and it just got tiresome.

February 27, 2006 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper

| Comment (1)

Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

Top Critic

Ethnic stereotyping, moral qualms and plot improbabilities aside, you just wish a movie like Running Scared wasn't so anxious to be exciting all the time: It gets so monotonous.

February 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail

| Comment

Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

There's clearly supposed to be tension between Joey's good and bad sides. Sure, he's a mobster, but he's also a family man, which makes him... gray. (Not black and white = very sophisticated.)

February 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune

| Comment

Allison Benedikt

Chicago Tribune

Top Critic

In the opening minutes of Running Scared, a drug deal goes bad and takes the entire movie with it.

February 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

| Comment

Geoff Pevere

Toronto Star

Top Critic

A grim and rowdy tale of vengeance, style, and fear. Not for kids.

July 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Cynthia Fuchs

Common Sense Media

Running Scared is one of the most underrated and enthralling action movies of the year ....

July 10, 2007 Full Review Source: DVD Review

| Comment

Felix Gonzalez Jr.

DVD Review

Wayne Kramer's latest film is a hard-hitting, visceral, over-the-top extravaganza of blood and bullets that doesn't let up for one second.

July 10, 2007 Full Review Source: DVD Review

| Comment

Felix Gonzalez Jr.

DVD Review

The action throughout Running Scared is involving and fast-paced enough that you don't notice the number of cliches being invoked in this film.

April 8, 2007 Full Review Source: Cinematical

| Comment

Jette Kernion

Cinematical

Running Scared exists in that world of movies where there are no good guys - just bad guys, worse guys and worst guys.

March 24, 2007 Full Review Source: UGO

| Comment

Brian Tallerico

UGO

A well-acted piece that should appeal to anyone who enjoys the films of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.

October 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal

| Comment

Forrest Hartman

Reno Gazette-Journal Source: Reno Gazette-Journal

An example of a film I recommend just because it tickled my undercarriage.

July 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

| Comment

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

It's a slick, simple, crazy flick that's well aware of how slick, simple, and crazy it is.

June 27, 2006 Full Review Source: DVD Clinic

| Comment

Scott Weinberg

DVD Clinic

With audiences jaded by the usual sex and splatter, do the filmmakers have no qualms about juicing up proceedings with edgy but troubling material which clearly needs more conscientious handling? Apparently not.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Trevor Johnston

Time Out

A montagem eficiente, com transi��es intrigantes, confere ritmo ao filme, que tamb�m se beneficia com a atua��o surpreendentemente intensa de Walker. Pena que o roteiro seja t�o implaus�vel e o final, t�o absurdamente rid�culo.

June 14, 2006 Comment

Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

Excellent director commentary - if you're at all a cineaste, this is a must-listen.

May 22, 2006 Full Review Source: Buzzine Magazine

| Comment

Staci Layne Wilson

Buzzine Magazine

There's something films like this reflect in our nature... that we seem to delight in propped up monsters that give the protagonist an excuse to behave like one.

May 4, 2006 Full Review Source: Cinemalogue.com

| Comment

Rubin Safaya

Cinemalogue.com Source: Cinemalogue.com

Stylish, rollicking post-Tarantino trash which does the business at such a pace you barely notice its preposterousness.

April 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

Angie Errigo

Empire Magazine

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Audience Reviews for Running Scared

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A passionate and excellently made action film where writer/director Kramer invites you to interpret and engage with his hyper-reality. A tour through America's problems or a fairytale? His characters are grotesques and his world is simultaneously hilarious and painfully sad.I don't know why this isn't considered a

October 18, 2011

Max Coombes

Super Reviewer

Ready. Aim. Run.Good movie, lots of action, bullets flying around all the time, people getting killed, if that's the type of movie you want plus a little twist at the end, this is the movie for you. I saw some action scenes which were new to me and that was kinda good. The acting was pretty decent nothing bad to say or

November 24, 2009

Manu Gino

Super Reviewer

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