Runner Runner (2013)
TOMATOMETER
Critics Consensus: It has an impressive cast and an intriguing premise, but Runner Runner wastes them on a bland, haphazardly assembled thriller with very little payoff.
Critics Consensus: It has an impressive cast and an intriguing premise, but Runner Runner wastes them on a bland, haphazardly assembled thriller with very little payoff.
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Movie Info
Richie, a Princeton college student who pays for school with on-line gambling, bottoms out and travels to Costa Rica to confront the on-line mastermind, Ivan, whom he believes has swindled him. Ivan sees a kindred spirit in Richie and brings the younger man into his operation. When the stakes get incredibly high and dangerous, and Richie comes to fully understand the deviousness of his new boss, he tries to turn the tables on him.- Rating:
- R (for language and some sexual content)
- Genre:
- Mystery & Suspense , Drama
- Directed By:
- Brad Furman
- Written By:
- Brian Koppelman , David Levien
- In Theaters:
- Oct 4, 2013 Wide
- On DVD:
- Jan 7, 2014
- US Box Office:
- $19.3M
Cast
-
Justin Timberlake
as Richie Furst -
Gemma Arterton
as Rebecca Shafran -
Anthony Mackie
as FBI Special Agent Sh... -
Ben Affleck
as Ivan Block -
Oliver Cooper
as Andrew Cronin -
Ben Schwartz
as Craig
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Runner Runner Videos
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Critic Reviews for Runner Runner
All Critics (112) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (103)
The actors hit the jackpot, but only in terms of their paychecks. The audience gets a tension-free, tight-assed, Casino ripoff that leaves them thoroughly fleeced.
The mannered speech is fun, the players are charismatic, and director Brad Furman maintains an agreeably brisk pace.
It looks like everybody's lying, and that's only because the acting is pretty bad.
The movie mostly wants to look timely and seem topical. Instead, it feels irrelevant.
Various subplots are given short shrift and the whole thing feels more like a Cliff's Notes version of a longer piece than an actual finished motion picture.
You want the movie to get outrageous, but it's too dignified to go there. Much like its central villain, it can't decide what it wants to be.
Ultimately, Runner Runner is really just a movie designed to provide some background noise as you update your Facebook.
Mixes the vacuous and tedious, slick and predictable, smarmy and smug. There's gambling lingo, racism or sleaziness spouting from the mouths of male a**holes, conversations steaming with banal bluster, and tropical scenes out of perfume and liqueur ads.
A bland retelling of a familiar story that lies in the shadow of smarter and sleeker films like 'The Firm.'
...it's ultimately impossible to downplay the rampant ineffectiveness of virtually every aspect of the proceedings.
Its pedigree may seem like a trump card, but make no mistake -- Runner Runner is bluffing.
Five years from now, I can see this movie constantly slotted on networks like USA and TNT to fill the programming gaps.
Justin Timberlake can not carry a movie on his own and this one sinks under his efforts. Still the plot of the movie is pretty much run of the mill in its own right
There's nothing glaringly wrong with it, but it's so glossily mediocre that it's impossible to recommend to anyone not contemplating a lengthy plane journey.
Stars Justin Timberlake, the perfect vanilla pseudoadult for a story of pseudoadult intrigues and pleasures.
Runner Runner gives both [Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck] room to show what they can do, and rather than pump up the volume, they play it close to the vest, as good gamblers would.
Director Furman and cinematographer Mauro Fiore make lovely work of the tropical light, but the film has none of the loose-limbed energy of Furman's stealth hit, The Lincoln Lawyer.
This lurid and choppy morality tale is a pale copy of those Ben Mezrich books about Ivy League guys who get in over their heads by gambling.
Will Richie regain his moral compass? Can our young turk turn the tables on his scheming mentor? If you're hoping for a surprise answer to any of these questions, then you are watching the wrong movie.
The eye rolls are plentiful during this far-fetched thriller that provides little insight into corruption in the high-stakes world of online gambling.
No reason to run run to see Runner Runner.
Unremarkable Internet gambling thriller, where every move made is a losing one.
Runner Runner feels like a movie you've seen a hundred times on cable, and hearkens back to numerous, thoroughly average, mid-budgeted dramatic thrillers of the mid-'90s that will fill programming slots on late night forever.
Audience Reviews for Runner Runner
Brad Furman's Runner Runner sees Justin Timberlake and Ben Aflleck on full smarm offensive. The film deals with relatively young but mega rich on-line gambling entrepreneur Aflleck defending himself against accusations of fraud from a young, smart, ex-Wall street dealer who lost his entire savings in an on-line poker game. Instead of going to the authorities, Timberlake goes straight to source and ends up with a rather nice job. Cue poor Bond villainesque shenanigans, Cartel nonsense and an unconvincing romance. Instead of character development, director Brad Furman relies solely on good looking extras and an abysmal script. The film does look good and it tackles a seedy world that I dislike immensely but other than that, I didn't much care for it.
http://cinephilecrocodile.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/runner-runner-dir-brad-furman-2013-brad.html
Super Reviewer
If they gave an award for Worst Movie Trailer for the year, I'm sure this would win it. I remember seeing it and just being like "man that is a horrible trailer, the movie can't possible be that bad", and it actually is. Justin Timberlake plays a Princeton student who loves to gamble and plays online poker to pay his tuition. When he is cheated on a big game and loses everything he decides to go to Costa Rica and confront the man behind the website, Ivan Block(Ben Affleck). So he confronts him and Affleck gives him a refund and offers him a 7 figure job right there on the spot. Yup, just like that. Timberlake then finds out the Block is a bad guy to do business with as the F.B.I is after him. First, the performances are horrible! I like Timberlake and Affleck, but they are so miscast here it's laughable. This is the worst Timberlake has been in a movie yet, and Affleck is the most unconvincing mobster I may have ever seen. There were a couple times in this they had a chance to go further and save the movie, but they hold back. Really makes the movie feel like it is lacking the balls needs for a mobster flick. It's dumb, pointless, and a waste of time. Just skip it and watch "Rounders" instead, now there is a good gambling movie.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Good movie and interesting plot. Justin needs money for his Masters degree at Princeton. He uses an online casino but loses his money. He realises he has been cheated out of his money. He goes to Costa Rica to confront the casino tycoon Ben. Who offers him a job. Movie produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.
More
Super Reviewer
Ritchie: Why 'The House'?
Ivan: Because The House always wins.
Runner Runner is the kind of trashy B-movie that doesn't aspires to build a whole lot of expectation for the viewer. It simply wants to be seen as watchable. The film is harmless in what it presents, but it is a shame that no one really seems to care how effective this film turned out overall. It has a mix of good actors and good-looking locations, but the screenplay is so bland and paint-by-numbers that the sense of urgency in a film that literally has people hounded by crocodiles feels completely missing. There is an interesting idea to explore in the world of online gambling and how they are run by offshore companies, but Runner Runner fails to find it.
read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com
Super Reviewer
Runner Runner Quotes
- Ivan Block:
- What did you expect me to do, Richie? Walk into my party, accuse me of cheating in front of all my friends. I can't let that go by. That's the problem with your generation. You guys sat around with your vintage T-shirts and your participation medal, and you never did anything.
- Ivan Block:
- That little voice in the back of your head right now, it's not conscience, it's fear.
- Richie:
- I'll be happy to tell my boss that you are not happy.
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