tlavideo.com

Review

Running Scared is a prime example of a Tarantino fan at work. Obnoxiously slick camerawork, over-the-top cartoon-like performances, and ridiculous attempts at "shocking" brutality add up to two hours of mindless nonsense that will be detested by some and lauded by others (such as, say, Boondock Saints fans). Paul Walker (The Fast and the Furious) plays Joey Gazelle, a mob hand/family man who stashes "hot" weapons in his basement. One evening Oleg, a friend of Joey's 10 year old son Nicky, steals a gun from Joey in order to protect himself from his abusive, John Wayne-obsessed Russian stepfather Anzor. The gun quickly becomes the obvious MacGuffin of the film as Joey is forced to scour the city streets for the weapon that links his crew to a recent murder. The film takes place during this one crazy night that exposes a countless number of society's evils from prostitution to child incest pornography (they don't quite manage to pull that one off). While the continuous introductions of new threats are a lot of fun, director Wayne Kramer's (The Cooler) hyperactive MTV styled approach ultimately instigates feelings of annoyance rather than tension. Visual effects provide such cockamamie flourishes as time rewinding and fast forwarding and the film bouncing off of the reel and burning away. A character may speak a single sentence from a rapid-fire succession of ten camera angles, some shaky, some saturated, some with the silliest of extreme closeups. Kramer's most laughable failure is his attempt to establish a fairy tale-like atmosphere to the dirty, neon-lit streets of Northern Jersey through devices such as the shadowy supernatural bum and the evil wicked step parents. The animated end credits that play out like a scary storybook are much more effective. This film is destined to be a favorite amongst fraternity houses and freshman film students, but those who are older and wiser have seen it all before. Be sure to ignore the included Running Scared comic book until after viewing the film; it reveals the ending.

 -- Eric Bresler