Runner Runner Review

25th Sep 2013

A ‘runner runner’ is a poker term, for a card which either completes a hand or significantly increases it’s value. So, with a name like this, you might expect the latest offering from Brad Furman to be the best work to date. Besting films like The Lincoln Lawyer is a tough job, but it can be done.

Runner Runner sees Princeton math whizz Richie Furst get cheated out of his life savings, and college fund, on an online poker game. He then seeks the owner of the website, multi-millionaire and criminal Ivan Block, on the remote island of Costa Rica. Here, Block takes Furst under his wing, but not everything is as it seems, and soon Furst is gambling with his life.

Justin Timberlake stars as the mathematician who’s brought down the dark road of online gambling, money laundering and general corruption by Ben Affleck’s Block, in a film which is sadly more style than substance. The hovering shots of Costa Rica, nurtured with time-lapsed camera work do paint a beautiful picture of the island, but it isn’t suiting of a film like this.

Everything is very superficial from the outset, but it is this exact feature which lures Furst into his unknowing life of crime. Yachts, outlandish parties in lavish apartments, girls clad in bikinis as far as the camera can reach, all these feature heavily throughout Runner Runner.

Timberlake does hold his own on camera, and for a great portion of the time you are rooting for him, even at the start when he’s not doing anything particularly good. You smile as he completes his attempt to blackmail a would-be client, that’s what Timberlake’s charisma, on screen, can do to you. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Affleck, who never really comes across as the threat he should be.

He seems like a caricature of a Bond villain of old, but it never really comes full circle, doesn’t quite make the cut. One scene involving crocodiles sees him try to be particularly menacing, but it doesn’t hit home. Gemma Arterton makes her appearance as the only female in the film, Timberlake’s love interest because there always is a love interest. She, much like Affleck, is there but not really there.

Anthony Mackie joins the fray as the overly-active FBI agent who takes selfies with his suspects/snitches and is unable to tell an airplane on a US runway to not take off. He did his part as well as he could, and provided some comedic value, though it was too little too late.

As a story, it does seem a bit hollow, with holes easily picked. Timberlake’s buddies join him in Costa Rica after he has accepted his new position – one thing the menacing Block should maybe have looked at was making sure they didn’t work in the one area where they would notice issues with the banking system.

Many will look at this film and come away with a few things. One, considering the hype we’ve seen this summer, is whether Affleck is fit to play a certain caped crusader. This is not a role to judge him on, as it is far from his finest work. Indeed, all involved may be willing to remove this feature from the CV’s in quick succession.

That is not to say this is a bad film, it’s just not particularly good. It has it’s high points, the montage where Timberlake loses his money and, as time goes, his friends is cleverly shot. Other shots at parties, however superficial, are nothing but fun to watch as the Princeton kids have “the best night of their lives” on two or three occasions.

Runner Runner is nothing less than style over substance, showcasing the glitz and glamour of what every online poker player hopes for. Dreams which will never be filled because, as everyone knows, the house always wins. However, in this case, I’m not quite sure who has won.