The Ray

A low budget film that punches above it's weight class. A clever idea for a film. If the budget was bumped up, they had an A-list actor and if wrote it less as a horror film; I could see this getting a following.

Criminal operator Ray (Ben Milliken) barely escapes with his life. He's hiding from a crime lord. He tries to go straight with an insurance job, his girlfriend, and her son. Grayson (Richard Kind) discovers his secret and blackmails him into one last job. It goes badly and he encounters Billings (Brad William Henke).

This is a small Australian crime thriller comedy. Ben Milliken is not quite leading man material but that's fine. Indies have limitations. The story is pretty basic except for the Mandela effect. That's a fun twist. My one big issue is that Ray should be smarter. He's set up as a superior street-smart criminal. When the tire gets slashed, he should know right away that someone is coming after the package. He can't waste time changing the tire. He needs to run and hide. He's also a little slow in a few other times. It's annoying when a smart character isn't quite so smart. The writing also has a few hiccups. A lot of this needs to be a bit smarter.

Nothing classic, but an enjoyable little contained thriller. The central macguffin scene is an entertaining gag, there's some decent gore chase setpieces. All in all it feels like a first time director who hasn't quite gotten a handle on how to connect scenes and move the story along naturally. Lots of the movie takes place in a handfull of locations, and where a more experienced director (or maybe a larget budget) can make a few settings maintain momentum, here it feels much more like treading water waiting for the next action.

It's probably not going to be a favorite of anyone watching, but a few good kills, decent performances, and flair in the writing make it worth a stream.

Also, if you like Richard Kind, he gets a few monologues and to hang out in a nice suit, so there's that.

After leaving a life of crime and violence, Ray is a reformed good guy, enjoying a quiet family life in the 'burbs. But when his past is discovered, Ray is blackmailed into one last job to collect a mysterious package. After a deadly double-cross, he finds himself wounded and on the run from ruthless assassins who will stop at nothing to get what he has. Now, with the lives of his loved ones hanging in the balance and danger at every turn, Ray's only hope is to draw upon his violent past to survive.

Good, very good, fun, with that touch of acidic humor that we love, ironic and sensitive at the same time... With convincing performances and an engaging narrative, the smart guy being made of cake and the fool being smart, good twists, great ending, adorable...

Stumbling upon the 2022 action thriller "Run and Gun" by random chance and seeing that the movie had Mark Dacascos on the cast list, of course I had to sit down and watch what writer and director Christopher Borrelli had to offer.

And while "Run and Gun" certainly was watchable, it just wasn't a particularly outstanding or memorable action thriller. In fact, there are far better action thrillers out there, which makes "Run and Gun" feel like a very bland and generic one actually. It is good enough for a single viewing, but that is about all it had to offer. And I bet 24 hours after having seen it, the memory of the movie will be fading away.

The storyline told in "Run and Gun", as written by Christopher Borrelli, was just too mediocre and bland. There was nothing riveting or particularly exciting about the things that transpired in the movie. And the narrative didn't really have much of any ongoing momentum or drive, so it felt like the action thriller was mostly running in Neutral gear.

I wasn't familiar with Ben Milliken (playing Ray), whom had the lead part in the movie. He was actually a fair enough actor and worked well enough with the limitations imposed by an improper script and storyline. Mark Dacascos was good in the movie, just a shame that he hadn't a larger role to play. It was actually quite fun to watch Richard Kind in the role that he portrayed.

If you enjoy action thrillers, then "Run and Gun" is not the best of choices.

I am rating "Run and Gun" a less than mediocre four out of ten stars.