User reviews

I was sorely tempted to write a single word review of Runner Runner: Pointless!

But I'll resist and expand slightly.

The trailer strongly suggests an intelligent, exciting thriller of crime and intrigue with A-list stars, action, drama, plenty of danger and a soupçon of violence. The realty of Runner Runner is somewhat blander.

Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) is a Princeton student with moderate financial worries, who supports himself through online gambling. When he risks everything (except the price of his airline ticket to Costa Rica, clearly) on a game and loses, he discovers he has been swindled and heads south to confront the man behind the poker company and scam, Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). Block is so impressed with Furst's balls that he offers him a job with eight-figure returns. With the chance to join the super rich, all the pleasures it encompasses and, predictably, a beautiful woman, Rebecca (Gemma Arterton), who equally predictably is Block's girlfriend, Furst's life couldn't be any better. Then FBI agent Shavers (Anthony Mackie) interferes.

The ingredients are there but it just doesn't work. The characters are half-written shadows of people about whom we don't care. There is no depth, detail or intrigue to inspire us to invest our attention and, though we try to second guess the plot and look for the twists and double crosses lurking in the background, it transpires there are none to speak of and what we see is the sum total of it.

Timberlake is on something of a downward trajectory after the superb The Social Network. Neither Bad Teacher nor Trouble with the Curve ignited and his turn in Runner Runner, though adequate, does nothing to persuade us he's an A-lister in Hollywoodland.

Affleck, however, was ridding high with the supreme success of Argo and the promise of more box office clout with the forthcoming Gone Girl and Batman vs. Superman. Runner Runner isn't going to damage his career but it certainly isn't going to boost it.

Meanwhile, there are times when Gemma Arterton frequently forgets to act (and can't pronounce Antigua) and Mackie is lumbered with a role that diminishes even the 'heights' of Pain and Gain.

Somebody really needs to shake director Brad Furman, turn him around and point him in the direction of a sequel to his fine The Lincoln Lawyer.

Runner Runner isn't a bad film. It's just a bland, boring, forgettable, dull thud with no echo.

For more reviews from The Squiss, subscribe to my blog and like the Facebook page.

The 3*s I'm giving Runner Runner are for the location and the concept, this could have been a really great film but is completely let down by a incomplete script, poor direction, cinematography and wooden acting.

The Opening 10-15 minutes of the film should have been Timberlake's character back story leading to the point where we actually open. There is absolutely no chemistry between Timberlake and Arterton, Affleck proves once again how he's able to be out-acted by the most inanimate object on screen, and I saw the film less than an hour ago and have already forgotten everything the FBI agent did.

Due to the poor script you have a total lack of empathy for anyone, you actually don't really care if they live, die, go to prison or get away. My biggest concern was if it actually was Deadmau5 DJing at the Doctor Parnassus themed party or just some dude in a similar hat.

Also, the jargon used throughout the film means absolutely nothing to anyone with out a financial and IT background.

If you want to watch a good film about someone trying to pay for their university education watch 21!

You know it's a good sign when the title has nothing to do with the movie.

Here's a film that begins one way but winds up being something else entirely.

Justin Timberlake plays a Princeton student paying his way through tuition costs by playing online poker, one day he loses big and finds out later he was cheated. He then heads out to Costa Rica to confront the owner of the website (Ben Affleck), but soon winds up in his employ.

When the movie begins it plays out very much like The Social Network, everyone is talking fast, there's a thumping electronic score and there's lots of impossible to follow jargon being tossed around. But once we get to Costa Rica it turns into one of those crime movies where you have the good intentioned innocent guy being pulled into the underbelly by the charming criminal.

The movie is boring, deathly boring.

The whole time you find yourself listening to bland, completely uninspired dialogue that exists only to get straight to the point to keep the movie flowing. With one of the most banal generic plots you could possibly fathom. You find yourself as a viewer one step ahead of all the characters in the film because it's a movie that's been made a million times before, there is not a single unique surprise in the entire thing.

The entire film trundles along with scene after scene of boring lazy dialogue, obvious foreshadowing and almost no action scenes.

Plus the film just looks cheap, characters who live in these huge extravagant, completely senseless homes will walk into some dingy room to talk for ten minutes. The direction and photography is completely dead, there is not a single creative flair to heighten the feel of the picture.

Justin Timberlake was excellent in The Social Network, but he hasn't shined in anything since. He's not bad in this movie, but it's not a performance that could pass as anything better than serviceable. Gemma Arterton does absolutely nothing but stand around looking pretty, plus she and Timberlake has absolutely no chemistry making the romance between them feel completely awkward. Anthony Mackie is completely wasted in this, he may have the only funny moments in the movie, but his scenes are completely perfunctory.

But God-bless Ben Affleck, who seems to know what a miserable pile of dreck he's in, and seems to be the only one having any fun. It's a performance that's so completely beneath him and he's definitely phoning it in, but his character is so deliciously wicked that it's hard not to love him and every scene he's in completely energises the movie. I can't exactly explain what happened but at some point in the third act the character became some kind of super villain that you would only see in the craziest James Bond movies.

Save for Affleck (and a weird cameo by Deadmau5), it's just an incredibly generic and forgettable affair that isn't even worth watching at home, this is the kind of movie that's best left forgotten.

Also it's pronounced AN-TEE-GAH not AN-TI-GUAR.

RUNNER RUNNER is a gambling thriller, set in Costa Rica but actually filmed in Puerto Rico. It's also an entirely predictable movie, one which seems to be going through the motions throughout. The idea of a youthful character going under the wing of an older, morally dubious successful businessman is familiar from the likes of WALL STREET, while the whole FBI investigation sub-plot reminded me of Oliver Stone's SAVAGES.

Sadly this is the type of film that has nothing much to say in the way of interest. For a thriller, the thrills are oddly muted, and the suspense is non-existent to say the least. I'm not sure why Justin Timberlake keeps getting cast in movies like this, because he has no discernible acting talent and he's a real bore up on screen. Ben Affleck is better, but he looks bored too and he phones it in throughout, while Gemma Arterton is cast as the eye candy once more and her acting continues to be dreadful. If you like slick photography and pretty locations, RUNNER RUNNER might be the film for you; if you want a little meat to go with the style, you'll invariably be disappointed in this one.

Online gambling contributes massively to the entertainment industry. Whether it be your mother playing bingo, slots or even dabbling into a sly game of poker, there's no denying its infectious presence. Naturally, when individuals tell me that this wonderful flick is essentially '21' meets 'The Social Network', my eyes glisten at the idea. Then you watch Runner Runner and eventually conclude that running away from this snooze-fest is the best option. A student lacking the funds to complete his Masters degree, gambles his money and mysteriously loses it all on a gambling website. He travels to meet the boss to claim that he was cheated.

Taking the aforementioned titles, there's poker and craps (not blackjack), no media entrepreneurial flavour (unlike Zuckerberg with Facebook) but there's Timberlake, so it has one common denominator. Unfortunately for this film, it has Timberlake. So you might as well throw that denominator into the ocean and let it drown. The main problem with this "thriller" is that you know exactly how the entire plot will pan out in the first five minutes. A story revolving around stealing is rather self-explanatory and leaves little to the imagination. The engrossing gambling aspect is rapidly discarded to make room for an uninspired money laundering story that lacks interesting characters and a tolerable script. So many underdeveloped clichés are thrown into the mix. FBI agents asking for assistance, a romance with the criminal's girlfriend and the most boring conclusion ever. Everything is tied neatly into a pretty pink bow and shipped off to Puerto Rico.

Timberlake has the emotional range of a dollar bill. Arterton was horrendously underused. But atleast Affleck and Mackie were good, I guess. Furman embeds some nice shots here and there, particularly the parties where lens flares are constantly blinding you, yet it's just a distraction. An attempt to disguise the abhorrently dull story, executed in the most unexciting way possible, and the mediocre acting. Run run run run away!

Justin Timberlake plays Richie Furst a Wall Street wannabee who got downsized and went to University where he supports himself through online gambling activities.

He risks everything on an online card game to get enough money for tuition fees and reckons he has been swindled by the online gaming company. He flies out to Costa Rica to confront the owner of the company, Ivan Block (Ben Affleck).

When Block sees the evidence that Furst has gathered he offers him his money back but also offers him a job with an attractive salary. An offer too good to turn down. Furst excels in his role and even gets some of his University chums down to help out but a FBI agent warns him that Ivan is a no good con man who is up to his ears in dirty dealings.

The film starts off interestingly enough and then goes straight down the predictable and boring route. Furst falls for Block's girl, Block punishes Furst because he realises that he is hitting on his girl and then Furst realises that he has been played and needs to plot his revenge. There is little by way of thrills and tension as you probably worked it out beforehand.

Dull, dumb, badly written, two dimensional characters and poor acting.

"I'll be happy to tell my boss that you are not happy."

If what you are looking for is an action thriller that doesn't thrill or have any action scenes then Runner Runner is the film for you. If you are looking for a one dimensional attractive cast with no character depth whatsoever, then Runner Runner is the film for you: Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, and Gemma Arterton all look extremely good in this film as long as you don't listen to what they are saying. Ten minutes into this movie you realize that Runner Runner has nothing new to say and the characters are so unremarkable that you forget who they are before the end of the film. I can't say that the movie was predictable, because I really didn't care what it had to say, and half of the plot elements made little sense. The women in this film were only put there for eye candy, and they had no other purpose. At only 90 minutes the film still feels overlong and it drags because somehow it seems as if you are watching an incomplete film, like if some important scenes were edited out. There is no doubt in my mind that if Ben Affleck directed this movie instead of starring in it this could have been a great film, but he was just in this to cash his check so there was no need to put any effort in this. I was surprised how terrible this film ended up being considering it was directed by Brad Furman who directed the solid The Lincoln Lawyer a couple years ago. The script was written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, but this was nowhere near as good as their first film, The Rounders. Runner Runner is one of the worst films of the year, run away from this mess of a movie.

The plot is pretty simple: Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) is a Princeton grad student who has been paying his tuition by getting other students to sign up to online betting sites. After the dean confronts Richie for his actions, he is forced to bet all his money on an online poker game. Convinced he has been cheated on, he decides to travel to Costa Rica in order to confront the mysterious entrepreneur in charge of the gambling site he lost his money on. In Costa Rica, Richie begins making acquaintances and he's invited to a party hosted by the gambling tycoon: Ivan Block (Ben Affleck) by his right hand partner, Rebecca (Gemma Arterton). Here Richie confronts Ivan and instead of sending him off, Ivan invites Richie to work for him in Costa Rica. Seduced by the easy money, Richie accepts the offer and begins living the life he has dreamed of, until he is kidnapped by FBI agent Shavers (Anthony Mackie) and asked to help bring down Ivan, who seems to be running things illegally. This is where the double crossings begin and the film gets all messy.

There is nothing positive I can say about Runner Runner because it is a complete mess with very lackluster performances. There is no denying there is a lot of talent involved here, but somewhere along the way something was lost. Furman proved he could direct a strong and intelligent film in The Lincoln Lawyer, but Runner Runner is nowhere close to what he had achieved in the past. We all know what Ben Affleck is capable of; he just came off with an Oscar for his work in Argo, but in this film his performances was completely uninspired. Gemma Arterton had nothing to work with here, but she accomplished what she was signed up for: looking good on camera. Justin Timberlake couldn't save this film either despite trying to put some effort into his role and trying to look believable. He has done some great work in the past, but this just might be the role that makes him stick to music from now on (or taking secondary roles). Runner Runner is a waste of talent and a waste of time for the audience. You will completely forget about this film the moment you walk out of the theater because there is nothing engaging about it. It doesn't move you or touch you in any way. If fails to draw you in to their world and there is no suspense whatsoever.

Ostensibly a gambling thriller in the Rounders mould, but in reality a standard cat-and-mouse caper, Runner Runner puts its hand up for worst movie of 2013. Despite holding winnable cards - Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton and the Oscar-winning cinematographer Mario Fiore - director Brad Furman loses the hand in spectacular fashion thanks to a slew of clichés, predictable twists and lacklustre action scenes. If the tacky and tenuous links to the U.S. financial crisis don't have you rolling your eyes, then the ridiculous subplot about Timberlake's neglectful father or Anthony Mackie's painfully inept FBI agent surely will. The climax is also excruciatingly banal and rather than serving as the BIG payoff it was desperately attempting to be, it simply reinforces just how pointless and unoriginal this whole insipid motion picture truly is. Saving it from the dreaded sole star is Affleck, who, despite his character being as one- dimensional as the others, manages to squeeze in a welcome display of dry humour.

Even the presence of a Hollywood A-Lister and the lovely Gemma Arterton couldn't redeem this utterly boring flick. JT should stick to what he knows and does best, shaming Britney Spears, and leave Hollywood well alone!

That could be his gift to humanity!

This movie totally let me down... I was expecting such a better performance of the actors, a better plot line but, some things are just not meant to be. The movie lacked many things and one of the most important was the "spice" of which it had none at all. I found myself very bored during most of the movie. I never really got attached or into the movie enough! Although I criticize the movie i am not happy while doing it, Furman and the Cast of this movie are worth a lot more and I know that they could have given us a better show. He (Furman) intended to do the best he could to try and lure in the viewer by bringing exotic places, beautiful girls and action scenes and to that I do give my props because he gave the viewer a type of "eye candy"... and for some it resulted enough.

I really didn't like the script, especially the created characters and their monologues and dialogs. Everything (especially the storyline itself!) was so over the top, doubtful and way to obvious at the same time, for my taste.

No one would speak like that in reality and in a movie they don't have to but this movie wanted to seem real but failed big time. After only 15 minutes i really was tempted to turn it off and that's a thing that happens actually rarely to me!

But to say something good about the movie the cinematography was honorable and the acting was nice.