"Running Scared" is a frantic, frenetic, energetic, high octane, non-stop action film that dives deeper and deeper into evilness buried within a city and within humanity. Paul Walker stars as a low level gangster within the mafia, and after an excellent shoot-out in the opening moments is asked to get rid of a gun used to kill a dirty cop in order to get rid of any evidence. This gun will come into possession of his sons best friend, who lives next door, which will take Joey (Walker) and Oleg (Cameron Bright) on a night long odyssey as Joey runs from his past while trying to avoid his future demise. Paul Walker has had a career similar to a typical Hollywood female actress. He's gotten roles based solely on his good looks. The scripts and films he's been apart of are, for lack of a better word, garbage; where his characters go through no arc, have no back-story and create no emotion. Here he's given a character where he does have a dark past, which haunts his conscience and he's caught up in the middle of something that has him on the brink of death, and all he wants is to get away and be with his wife (Vera Farmiga) and son (Sound corny?). He does have his moments where he overacts and some of the dialogue is a bit cheesy and clichéd, but for the most part, Paul Walker is on top of his game (not that you would know he had game in the first place). Vera Farmiga gives her career launching performance here. She's fantastic. She's eventually caught up in this chase for the gun that changes hands more times than one can possibly imagine, and she's dragged into this underworld of sex, drugs, power, abuse and violence. She's a well-intention and good natured person, but she's eventually brought face-to-face with two pedophiles, Dez and Edele played disgustingly wonderful by both Bruce Altman and Elizabeth Mitchell, and her morals are put to a test that few can imagine. These are just a few of the characters that gives "Running Scared" the kind of demonic and evil darkness that sets the film apart from virtually every other film before and, probably, after it. Altman and Mitchell will leave audiences in shock and these are two faces audiences wont be able to get out of their heads as we see them with wide smiles and calm, soothing voices, then we see what they have in their closest. These are two of the most haunting and sadistic characters ever created, and we have the misfortune of seeing them through the eyes of a child, which makes it all the more terrifying.
Kramer directs this film with a brilliance rarely seen, especially from a director who's only made one other feature length film - "The Cooler." The lighting, shot design, blocking, shot set-ups, and editing are simply phenomenal. All these touches give the film a tone, texture and mood that makes it all its own. This is not a film that is based upon realism, but surrealism and imagination. Kramer does a phenomenal job in capturing the the tone and attitude of his characters and how we perceive them. Lester "the Pimp" is a cartoon. He's the exact model of how we perceive stereotypical pimps. He talks black, he dresses in a flamboyant manner, he beats women, he's open to any kind of violence and he's completely ruthless. Oleg comes across a homeless man, who looks exactly like the homeless man behind the store in "Mulholland Dr." The two pedophiles are seen through opaque glass looking like something straight out of "Nosferatu." Kramer has no intention in making these characters real, set in a real city or actual time. The city is so dark and filled with so much evil, that it's unworldly. The majority of these supporting characters are different kinds of evil, and you basically have one family trapped inside an underworld that they simply don't belong- Hell. They are running scared. Kramer creates a dream world that explores the kind of evil we have in every city. These evil characters come in all colors, shapes and sizes. They also come with smiles, masking their true identities. Something you notice in watching the movie is just how little you know about your neighbor. We see characters who see a neighbor one way, then we break that barrier and enter their domain, and there is a sense of shock in what we encounter, because we know the neighbors have no idea what kind of people live just next door. It might make you look at your neighbor with a little more skeptic and curiosity.
Joey and Oleg share a scene as they start to grow into a father-son relationship late in the film where Joey constantly tells Oleg that he was born in America, so he's American. "You're American. You were born here. You're an American." Even in the midst of the evil they encounter, they still see this country as something sacred. As bad as it is or how ugly the surface may seem, it's still America and there is hope. There is a pride factor Paul Walker exposes in his country that sums of the film as good as any other scene in the movie. Amongst the chaos, paranoia and fear, there's this calming sense of unity, loyalty and respect shared between the two. "Running Scared" is more than just a shoot-em- up action film, it bevels its way into the inner darkness of the world that we inhabit and it explores both the good and evil within a person, and sometimes there is no good. Sometimes there is no evil, but at the end of the day there is hope for the fairytale life.
Kramer directs this film with a brilliance rarely seen, especially from a director who's only made one other feature length film - "The Cooler." The lighting, shot design, blocking, shot set-ups, and editing are simply phenomenal. All these touches give the film a tone, texture and mood that makes it all its own. This is not a film that is based upon realism, but surrealism and imagination. Kramer does a phenomenal job in capturing the the tone and attitude of his characters and how we perceive them. Lester "the Pimp" is a cartoon. He's the exact model of how we perceive stereotypical pimps. He talks black, he dresses in a flamboyant manner, he beats women, he's open to any kind of violence and he's completely ruthless. Oleg comes across a homeless man, who looks exactly like the homeless man behind the store in "Mulholland Dr." The two pedophiles are seen through opaque glass looking like something straight out of "Nosferatu." Kramer has no intention in making these characters real, set in a real city or actual time. The city is so dark and filled with so much evil, that it's unworldly. The majority of these supporting characters are different kinds of evil, and you basically have one family trapped inside an underworld that they simply don't belong- Hell. They are running scared. Kramer creates a dream world that explores the kind of evil we have in every city. These evil characters come in all colors, shapes and sizes. They also come with smiles, masking their true identities. Something you notice in watching the movie is just how little you know about your neighbor. We see characters who see a neighbor one way, then we break that barrier and enter their domain, and there is a sense of shock in what we encounter, because we know the neighbors have no idea what kind of people live just next door. It might make you look at your neighbor with a little more skeptic and curiosity.
Joey and Oleg share a scene as they start to grow into a father-son relationship late in the film where Joey constantly tells Oleg that he was born in America, so he's American. "You're American. You were born here. You're an American." Even in the midst of the evil they encounter, they still see this country as something sacred. As bad as it is or how ugly the surface may seem, it's still America and there is hope. There is a pride factor Paul Walker exposes in his country that sums of the film as good as any other scene in the movie. Amongst the chaos, paranoia and fear, there's this calming sense of unity, loyalty and respect shared between the two. "Running Scared" is more than just a shoot-em- up action film, it bevels its way into the inner darkness of the world that we inhabit and it explores both the good and evil within a person, and sometimes there is no good. Sometimes there is no evil, but at the end of the day there is hope for the fairytale life.