Let’s be honest – has a single trailer or promo for Runner Runner made it look remotely appealing? No. I like Ben Affleck and Gemma Arterton. Justin Timberlake isn’t a strong actor, but has the potential to be decent – but nothing that any of the actors do can save Runner Runner from the being the bland, pointless and utterly predictable not-so-thrilling thriller that it is.
Timberlake stars as up-and-coming Ivy League grad student Richie Furst. His only problem is that – unlike most of his peers – Richie doesn’t come from a family of money. In fact, his old man is nothing more than a gambling addict who constantly owes someone money. To pay the tuition fees, Richie refers fellow students to illegal online gambling sites. Apparently, some people do this for a living. Because the job is shady, Richie’s academic dean tells him that if he doesn’t quit the job, he’ll be ejected from the prestigious school. With no other way of earning the $60K in tuition that Richie lacks for his degree, he decides to take his saving to online casino. Being a genius, he has no excuse for losing.
As the saying goes, “the house always wins.” Richie loses all of his money, but suspects the site of cheating. When his genius techie friend finds out about it, he investigates and gathers proof that the site is cheating. At rock bottom, Richie heads to Costa Rica to confront the illegal site’s owner, Ivan Block (Affleck). Of course, Block makes excuses, thanks Richie for uncovering a supposed glitch and lures him into sticking around in Central America to help manage the business. For some reason, Richie takes the bait. Because of his integrity, he was willing to quit his shady job because his dean told him to, but once he’s seduced by the head of the illegal company, his integrity goes out the window. He goes off the deep end.
The generic thriller formula is applied from here on out. Tycoon Block becomes more and more questionable. Richie tries to find a way out, but gets in over his head and has to think outside the box to escape this seemingly impossible scenario. Nothing that happens is creative or original and the actors certainly don’t do anything to keep it running. Affleck – whom I typically love – phones it in. Timberlake, again, shows that he’s not capable of carrying a film. Arterton is completely wasted in her two-dimensional role. The acting is literally just as stagnant as the movie itself.
Runner Runner stumbles stumbles from the get-go and I literally can’t imagine why anyone would walk away from it with a feeling of satisfaction.
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox
