Man on the Run

Greetings again from the darkness. Remember that time you paid pop star Brittany Spears one million dollars to jump out of a birthday cake at your party? Or the times you paid huge appearance fees to celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, and Paris Hilton to hang around your lavish parties? If not, then you're no Jho Low. And thank goodness for that. Jho Low was in cahoots with then Prime Minister Najib Razak to siphon billions from a fund designed to assist Malaysian citizens. Their fund was called 1MDB (1 Malaysian Development Berhad) and thanks to researchers and whistleblowers, this film from Cassius Michael Kim lays out a textbook case of corruption, fraud, and greed.

The FBI have called this the largest kleptocracy case to date. Kleptocracy is defined as corrupt government officials embezzling funds for personal gain. And yes, that is the where the billions of dollars come in, however, in this day and age, celebrities must be involved for the general public to much care. To satisfy these viewers, the montage of associated celebrities is impressive, and the use of these funds to finance Martin Scorsese's Oscar nominated film, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2014), may provide the perfect example of irony. Government corruption funding a film highlighting Wall Street corruption. To top it off, that scenario is then used as the basis for a documentary focused on the two key players behind this conspiracy of fraudulent activity.

In addition to Jho Low, Prime Minister Najib Razak, and the celebs, the story also involves Najib's wife, the FBI, Goldman Sachs executives, and numerous other folks who got caught up in the web of greed. Wherever there is dirty money being spent, you can be assured there are dirty people involved. Filmmaker Kim allows many to communicate their perspectives and observations on Jho Low, though the reality is that he remains a somewhat mysterious figure. An enigma who, while conspiring with the head of a country, managed to live the high life by spending money bilked from Malaysians.

A 22-carat diamond ended up with the Prime Minister's wife, and both of them got what they deserved in the end. However, the newest game of "Where's Waldo?" is now called, "Where's Jho Low?" He is the titular man on run, while others pay the price ... including a country that teetered on financial failure. The director does include an interview with the former Prime Minister, and we do hear from others who are familiar with the case. Unfortunately, none of the celebrities who accepted the fees agreed to appear on camera, either due to shame or fear of self-incrimination. Still, there is plenty of slime on display.

In select theaters beginning September 22, 2023.

Love the narrative and how it ties back to how this affects the everyday lay people from hawkers to illiterate rural Malaysians. The 1MDB fiasco seemed hidden behind clouds of financial jargons and conspiracy when the news first broke but the documentary did an amazing job explaining how this came to be and why nobody knew all the details behind it. Perfect for people who have no extensive knowledge about business/finance workouts as this documentary breaks difficult concepts and illustrated them into very digestible pieces. Highly recommended for all Malaysians to build understanding of this turbulent times.

Financial malfeasance is certainly noxious, but as subject matter for a doc film runs the risk of being pedantic or procedural. Man On The Run deftly weaves the facts and faces of the 1MDB scandal into a pacey, emotional, (but still dense) narrative. A mostly charismatic and sympathetic cast of characters tells the story, and the filmmakers manage to get some of the bad guys in too. The film also surprises with a great dose of humor and levity. The Malaysian subjects particularly bring a lot of heart and warmth to the film. Creative visuals capture the flavor and rhythms of the region, and the soundtrack really shines. I was able to see the film on the big screen and enjoyed it from start to finish. Kudos.

Man on the Run: Great documentary about the IMDB scandal. Corruption at the highest levels across the globe. The film tells the tale of the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal and the involvement of former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak and the fugitive businessman, Jho Low in a scandal that shook Malaysia. Razak was sentenced to 12 years in prison, $681 million was resting in his account. He likely got away with murder though, an official from the Attorney General's office was found dead in an oil barrel. The official had signed a warrant for the arrest of Razak while he was still in power. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Paris Hilton, The Fugees, Kim Kardashian, Goldman Sachs et al were also involved in this affair. The conman Jho Low is still on the run. Enormously entertaining. Directed, written and executive produced by Cassius Michael Kim. On Netflix. 8/10.

The trailer seemed interesting. That this would be an exciting documentary about a "Man on the Run" (aka Jho Low), who stole a billion dollars and used it to fund an extravagant lifestyle full of parties with rich people and celebrities. Only problem is, it isn't that at all. The trailer is basically just scenes taken from the first 5 minutes and then for the rest of the documentary, Jho Low is only talked about sporadically as a connection point for a number of other shady characters.

You know when a teacher would give you a minimum word count but you were 200 words short at the end of an essay so you would add fluff in there to make it longer even though it added no value? Well that's what this felt like. The documentary could have been about 60 minutes instead of 98 minutes and it would have been substantially better. The creators would drag out their creepy artwork(?) shots for 30 seconds instead of moving on to the next scene.

In the end it's not a documentary I would recommend to anyone, which is sad because it's an interesting topic.