Review of Run Lola Run (1998) by Brenda W — 28 May 2014

Run Lola Run made me want to run, and turn my television off. This action drama story is about a young woman by the name of Lola who receives a call from her boyfriend Manni. Lola takes the calls, she screams so loud with frustration things begin to break, this may suggests she is an outcast and different from what the "norm" is told to be. He is in some sort of trouble and has lost 100,000 marks. There is only twenty minutes to recover this lost fortune before he has to meet with his criminal boss. Lola tells her boyfriend to wait for her, and frantically throws the phone. The intensity is obvious. And then Lola runs.... without hesitation Lola runs to the bank her father works. Lola never stops, the streets of Berlin are busy, life around is moving, and Lola keeps moving. This man who Lola calls "Papa" refuses her money. She exits the bank and continues to run. During the course of her desperation and the twenty minutes coming near an end, Lola will face many obstacles. She must find a way to save her love and fix the issue with the lost money.

This is where the story begins, and just when the viewer's believe the long, loud, busy movie comes to an end, it happens again. A different twist of events will happen, and then again. This movie has excellent music if you like loud raving techno; it ran parallel with the event taking place. The editing was just as busy, the motion of slides cut at a rapid pace, defining the twenty minute allotment to collect the money. If you like to see a hundred different pictures at once, I can see how those who created the movie do this technique and why, it demonstrates the stress Lola is under, her mind is racing, she is racing, the movie keeps pace with the movement. The camera did clever work, but the motive with duplicating was confusing. The story line lacked detail, and even when the scenes changed, what was about to occur was totally predictable. Many movies allow a build up for some the audience to connect with the casting characters. This movie did not offer choice. Like it or leave it!

Using a five star rating scale, I give Run Lola Run a 2. The acting was terrible and the actors lacked personality, however Lola did define the energy. The film accurately showed motion and the lighting was good. There were elements of the quality of the film that were present, for this I did not offer a one. As any foreign film viewing, reading the subtitles with so much commotion really takes away from the enjoyment of watching.