Runner Runner

SYNOPSIS –A university student is sucked into the seedy world of online gambling and soon realises that as easy as it was to get in, it may not be so easy to get out. As main character Richie (Justin Timberlake) explains statistics and numbers to one of his college professors, we immediately get the sense of the heart of this film - risk and the world of gambling. Richie, having been cheated on an online poker site travels to South America to confront its owner and ends up being offered a job. The face of online gambling we are presented with is Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). With a name that sounds like a Bond villain it’s an obvious nod to the fact that we know we can’t trust him. We’re first introduced to him sitting in a sauna, king-like on a throne, whilst addressing two American senators as if they were subjects. Affleck’s performance seems to be a mix between a mob boss and a professional salesman. He hands out trinkets and the spoils of the business at first all smiles and affability only letting his darker nature creep in gradually so that, when it does Richie is in too deep. Unfortunately when that nature does show up it is with all the subtlety of a herd of elephants, quite how our protagonist goes so long without realising that his boss may not be on the level is a little strange given his aforementioned intelligence. One of the problems with Runner Runner is that it can’t quite seem to decide what its central message is. On the one hand we are shown Block’s world as a dark place of corruption and the lurking threat of violence. On the other hand the film goes out of its way to show all the lovely things that this lifestyle can get you – e.g. the huge amounts of money to made. It’s not a little unlike last year’s Flight (2012) in which a man’s battle with drug and alcohol sat uncomfortably with an advert for the drink and drugs life style. All of this makes the main character’s desire to escape this world ring a bit hollow. This is not helped by the long and lengthy amount of time it takes him to decide it’s time to get out. FINAL VERDICT 5/10 it’s nothing new or original but it’s still entertaining