Running Scared

New Jersey at night, full of dark corners both in the streets and in relatively luxurious apartments, in a directorial visual fetish that you won’t easily forget. The camera work, filtering, and editing may remind you of Tony Scott at first, but Wayne Kramer gets even tougher after a few minutes and shows that you can do wonders with a $15 million budget and an R rating. Pleasantly uninhibited sex, furious shooting, and such a concentration of "fucks" that there was no room left for any other words. This doesn't prevent the director (who is also the screenwriter) from making some impressive breaks in the plot, meaning there is no shortage of tension and viewer interest. The lamentations over the ending are the misguided cries of those who are simply unable to accept that certain genre rules were broken (just between you and me) for once. (14.07.2006)

It is somewhat more than the sum of its parts. It is primarily an adrenaline ride and a patchwork of separate video clip scenes, where everything else (plot, logic) is an afterthought, but sometimes even that is enough. This is such a case, fortunately. (23.02.2007)

Running Scared did not live up to the reputation of one of the most extraordinary thrillers in recent years, despite its subtly appealing clichés. The slow start doesn't help either, where Walker can curse as much as he wants, but due to the vaguely intensified circumstances, I just didn't believe it. Fortunately, in the second half, the determined protagonist truly comes into play, and the audience can feel it. The script finally stops holding back, introduces a few genuinely strange characters, and suddenly I couldn't help but wonder when the story actually broke to the point where even a little boy with a plastic bag pulled over his head doesn't scare me. The overall decline is most helped by the camera, plenty of visual tricks, and finally, the main hero. However, unlike the repeatedly compared Crank, the hopelessness is missing here from beginning to end. Although Statham's one-man show was delivered with much greater exaggeration, it worked even better. (25.03.2007)

Running Scared is significantly influenced by music video aesthetics and if I wanted to be sarcastic, I would say that the title of the film captures the fact that it must frantically rush forward so that the viewer doesn't notice that the sequence of images and action-packed scenes is just a purposefully connected hybrid that doesn't hide anything deeper. It is true that, for example, the character of the sadistic villain seems to have escaped from the pages of Frank Miller's comics or even more so from Garth Ennis' "Preacher," and there are certainly more eccentric characters or entertaining situations, but it is exactly the type of film where I appreciate the details, but the whole thing doesn't hold together and ends with a crucial revelation that I consider too cheap and one that would be more suitable for a parody. I perceive it rather as a joke from the screenwriter at my expense. Overall impression: 45%. (03.12.2010)

Wow, Paul Walker shows his real colors and from now I will take greater notice of Wayne Kramer. It’s not often you see things like this. Plus, Karel Roden’s performance here puts him in first place of all my favorite Czech actors. Keep up the good work, Karel. As I was saying, the directing is excellent, reminding me at times of Tony Scott and his Domino. Great actors, an almost perfect screenplay (the very end went a little wrong), twists, shootouts... superb. I look forward to your next project, Wayne. :-) (10.06.2006)

The action is surprisingly chaotic, there isn't much of it, and as such, it definitely isn't the main attraction of the movie. Even though there is literal shooting left and right, which the editor made a proper mess off, the action sequences are quite confusing, and I don't mean the fact that they are shot as raw as possible with a shaky camera, but simply that it's not what I would imagine (Tony Scott is better at that, but significantly more costly). There are several shocking scenes followed by a series of average mafia stories with often quite long secondary bits and pieces. The best scene is undoubtedly the one with the pedophile. I appreciate the R-rating and the rough language - it contrasts excellently with the raw acting of Paul Walker (and others) – but other than that, Running Scared (except for a few really tough moments) offers nothing new under the sun. (07.03.2007)

For a while I thought about a full rating, but that wouldn't quite fit with other, richer and more varied crime stories. Running Scared is not lacking in brutality, charge, rawness and a fast-paced plot packed with tension and the word "fuck". The actors are also good, led by the "fast and furious" Walker and, of course, the wacky John Wayne worshipper Karel Roden, who rocks again and clearly enjoys his role. It's just a pity that director, Kramer, left too much room for emotions and firearms at the end, focusing excessively on the surface rather than playing with the story itself, and the whole thing felt a bit contrived and overdone. Otherwise, though, a great and original thriller that even David Fincher would not be ashamed of. (08.10.2012)