Review of The Runner (1999) by Mike H — 05 Aug 2015

'The Runner', is a small, quiet and complex film that shows how doing one small thing can ruin what you stand for. I was a little shocked to find out that this isn't a biopic, I'm also a little shocked at the age rating for the film because nothing all that explicit takes place but that's beside the point. Given the fact that it uses the 2010 oil spill as the set up for the story, I'm a little surprised that the story we are seeing is fiction; I always find it weird when filmmakers take a real event and make their own story as you'd think there would be a real story to tell anyway and probably not too dissimilar from this. Perhaps this was done purposely though because the film jumps into everything very quickly and the event has already happened when the film begins, as I thought there would have been some build up to it, or something.

Very early on the film's perfectly portrayed tone and our main character's conscience are one in the same; conflicted. The film is very interesting right from the start and there is an early interaction between two characters and with what Colin was saying, the film really grabbed me and shows us what it is, it is thoughtful, insightful and lets the audience think about it for themselves and come to their own conclusions. A significant part of the plot deals with a speech that Colin gives and it was indeed an excellent speech, I felt like Cage really felt it and he even shed a tear whilst he was talking and if someone told me that the whole closure to that scene was unprompted, I'd believe it. The script for the film is great and balances quite a lot at once and even has some funny little moments with character bouncing back lines between one another; I also like that some characters just talk about day-to-day things between scenes, it makes it feel all the more real, like these are real people and not actors reading a script for a film, it's just a nice addition. Although Colin did seem to have a pretty weird friend, he was working for him and was nice to him for the most part but he sometimes said some things that were oddly mean and not really the kind of thing Colin needed to be hearing at that moment, even if, some could argue, what he was saying was true. It could be argued that Colin's character is too good and too honest but seeing as how I thought that this was a biopic for a little bit, I just took it for what it was but seeing as how it isn't I don't really think it's bad. Even after his scandal comes out he is still messing up and going back to old habits, but I did like how honest he was with his wife and didn't hide anything. There was even scene that concluded with Colin looking at a lighter and I thought he was going to kill himself when that scene quickly went to black, and the scenes that come directly after that are surprising, it was shocking to say the least but it would make you look guilty. I also like it when a film's title can be applied to many things that happen in the film and he does have some scenes where he goes for a 'run', if you will.

Like I already somewhat mentioned with the speech, the acting in this film is great. Nicolas Cage gives a great performance with a very subtle accent, given where it takes place it makes sense (another political film in Louisiana?!) but, once more, his southern accent is very authentic and so much different from all his others! How do you do that?! I was a little confused when I first heard it because it hadn't appeared much beforehand but that is because Colin was talking quietly and only said a few words and not talking loudly for a speech, so it made sense; I thought it went away after a while, but no, it was just him talking quietly again. The cast is great and filled with recognisable faces but seeing Peter Fonda act with Cage again was certainly something great. I thought he'd be in just one scene at first because that is usually what happens when you get an actor like that for that sort of role, hell, Peter Fonda was hardly even in the film 'House of Bodies' and he and Terrence Howard's face are on the box cover! He did seem to go away for a while but he came back later on and just seeing those two go against each other was great; his character was in it enough to fill out his purpose but it would have been nice to see those two interact more. The film also looks and sounds great with some very coldly filmed shots and a soundtrack that seems to have taken some cues from Lord of War. There was a scene where Colin looked himself up online and it used a couple of pictures of Cage from 2009, just something funny to note.

I was a little surprised when the film ended though, I knew it would be about 90 minutes before it started, but it ends at an 1hr and 22 minutes and that was a little surprising. I'm already surprised at how much was accomplished in such a short amount of time given how much is going on here, al a 'The Dying of the Light' but it seemed quick and this film could have gone on longer to really go even further in-depth with some side-plots, especially with a speech that happens earlier on in the film. It cuts away right before it was about to begin, it didn't matter because I thought we'd see it later on in the film on a TV with characters watching it, as many films have done that before, and this film did give me some flashbacks to 'The Insider' but no, we didn't get to see that speech. I joked at about 54 minutes that the way that scene played out could be used as a closing shot and that could be some sort of ending in a way. Also, at first I thought that perhaps I missed something with the way the film ends as it seems to go against what Colin said earlier in the film but then again, it has to do with its conflicted mind and how mixed outcomes can be, so I understand it from that aspect. However, the ending does have a very great shot of an oil rig at work that says a lot.

'The Runner', is a quiet and slow burner of a film with a reflecting feel to it and is more about this character's life with what to do in a crisis than being directly about the oil spill that surrounds it, however, it never forgets its point or roots and does come back to that at the end. It had a good script and the acting was great and the tone was quite ambivalent. A thoughtful piece indeed. But as of this review there are two pages dedicated to this film both with different information and the URL has the 1999 film, so who knows what is going on.