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Running Scared (2006)
Tense noire - until the plot falls apart
Running scared is a reasonably tense crime movie. The plot twists and turns throughout the movie, and includes some extremely nasty sections I'd rather not dwell on. If you like bleak, grimy movies with a variety of criminal types all set with their own motivations, infirmities and terribly unwise decisions (that make their station in life a lot less surprising), this movie starts great.
Unfortunately, when the plot winds down and crucial secrets are revealed, everything falls to pieces rather than fall into place. In the light of the clues revealed in the end, many events make no sense at all. In the end, the viewer is finally let in on secrets at least one character must have known all along - yet his decisions throughout the movie do not reflect that. Don't bother trying to puzzle this movie out: Running scared has an unexpected ending because the plot just does not connect.
The Fountain (2006)
Pointless, 2-dimensional, yet aims to be somehow deep
Superficially, this movie concerns two lovers: one of whom is dying, but accepts her death, and the other who desperately tries to prevent it.
Unfortunately, the above summary is a complete description of their characters - that's it, there's nothing else there. While the viewer sees various scenes depicting these two, there are no moments in which they deviate from this narrow focus.
The movie is full of beautiful symbolism - its sole redeeming factor. However, the beautiful symbolism does not make insightful. With characters as shallow as the two leads, the movie inevitably fails distill any meaning from it's many "dramatic" moments.
Watch this movie if you didn't know death is difficult, and not just for the one dieing. Ignore it otherwise - it's just an over-the-top art project without any insight.