Review of Run Lola Run (1998) by Raji K — 28 Jan 2015

I had to watch Run Lola Run for school. I probably wouldn't have sought it out otherwise. But as it stands, I'm happy I gave this movie a watch. It's as unique a film as you will ever see.

This uniqueness is hard to fully rationalize. The film is less than 80 minutes long. The plot plays like the climax of a full movie, repeated three times. The editing falls into montage mode every few minutes. There is an animation aspect that I still can't explain. It feels like Tom Tykwer, the director, learned a bunch of filmmaking techniques, then stuffed them all into the same movie. But is that really a bad thing? It can be distracting, and it can be unnecessary, but Run Lola Run benefits from all its eccentricities. Without them, there isn't much left.

What the movie does right is simple, it keeps a ridiculously high level of kinetic energy throughout. The film never stops! It barely takes a moment of a breather before launching into another frantic scene. And yet, the narrative never gets exhausting, thanks to the brevity of the run-time. There's no denying that the story can be repetitive (it's the same scenario, played out three different ways), but the movie is succinct enough to withstand these flaws.

The film is bolstered by two dependable performances. Franka Potente (Marie from the Bourne trilogy) stars as Lola. A lot of the performance is relegated to sprinting through the streets of Berlin, but Potente proves herself as a solid lead. Moritz Bleibtreu has the main supporting role as Manni, Lola's boyfriend. He provides the finest acting in the movie.

Run Lola Run is a neat concept film. It keeps things moving at a brisk enough pace to prevent any glaring flaws. But the story lacks substance and the characters lack development. At the end of the day, you won't remember the film two days after you see it, but it is certainly not a movie you will regret allotting an hour and twenty minutes of your time.

"Well, we all have our bad days." 6.5/10.