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EDITOR'S PICK
`Runner
Runner` fails to hit the jackpot (IANS Movie Review)
Rating: **
In the world of gambling, "Hard work does not guarantee success and nobody
plays for free". So would be the case in the world of entertainment too.
Director Brad Furman should have known it by now.
"Runner Runner" is a synthetic tale of an aspirant's journey to
impress and follow the path of his idol and mentor only to realise that his idol
has abused his faith and turned him into a mere pawn in his scheme of things.
Set in the backdrop of high stakes in the world of online gambling, a Wall
Street dropout and a promising Masters in Finance student Richie Frust (Justin
Timberlake) is struggling for his tuition fees at Princeton University. So, in
order to make a quick buck, he turns to gambling and thereby ropes in the
student community on campus.
But soon, the university officials catch up with him and he is threatened with
expulsion unless he stops this nefarious activity.
After scrutinising the gambling site Midnight Black, in his last and desperate
bid to make it big, he gambles his entire savings. Unfortunately, he loses.
Unable to digest this fact, he consults the computer expert on campus and
realises that he was cheated.
Determined to retrieve his lost money, Richie heads to Costa Rica to meet Ivan
Block (Ben Affleck), the promoter of the online casino and confronts him.
Unperturbed, Ivan apologises and offers Richie two alternatives; a refund or to
work with him. Richie takes the offer to work with him and soon realises that
everything is not picture perfect in this gambling den.
The plot points in "Runner Runner" seem to have been often witnessed
in movies like "Wall Street", "The Devil's Advocate",
"Boiler Room" and "The Social Network" hitting the same
graph points along the way.
Also, the momentum of the script and the screenplay loses its charm when, what
starts off as an online gambling issue, gradually slides into the
brick-and-mortar gambling mafia zone. Also, these scenes do not evoke the
adrenaline rush that one notices in casinos.
With dialogues like "The eternal truth, the house always wins," and
"At Princeton, you're either bred for it, or you bleed for it" by
writers Brian Koppelman and David Levien, it seems like an effortless corny job
dished out in a hurry.
On the performance front, except for Justin Timberlake who seems sincere in his
performance and proves himself a competent actor, the rest of the cast just
sleepwalk their parts.
The worst is Ben as Ivan, the suave smooth talking website promoter. He does not
make any effort to emote. He is more comical than threatening, especially in the
menacing scenes where he feeds crocodiles. And Gemma Arterton as Ivan's moll,
does not add anything exclusive to her character either.
The glossy cinematography by Mauro Fiore is splendid. He has managed to capture
the external shots beautifully but the real gambling scenes are staid. The
background score with Spanish music is appealing.
Director Brad Furman's "Runner Runner" will appeal only to a select
audience who are technologically savvy and those interested in discussing
mind-boggling financial numbers. The others may just lose interest within the
first few minutes.