kennethraine
I read the reviews on this site, and Rotten Tomatoes, they were 90% negative. I thought I'll give it a view anyway, I can always switch over if it's truly as bad as they report. It starts off and the premise is very promising, a student notices on a gambling site, a statistical variation that is unlikely to be genuine. He decides to confront the Big Boss in person. The story develops from there, with authentic well delivered dialogue. What the critics appear to have dismissed as slick and contrived is actually how the gambling business works, its an industry, a very professionally run industry .Every machine takes a pre- arranged percentage, every game works on a pre- determined margin. The story develops well the action is good. Even the ending would have been OK if it had had the build up and tension up to that point. It was just that last reel that detached itself from the preceding film. I would have given it eight with a consistent finale, a much better film than the critique suggests.
Paul Magne Haakonsen
Right, well I must admit that I had already formed an opinion about this movie prior to having seen it. Why? How? Well, simply because of the lead cast being Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake.And now having seen it, I have to admit that I am more than genuinely surprised at how entertaining the movie was, thanks to director Brad Furman, but also because of Affleck and Timberlake actually performing quite well. I will actually go as far as admitting that this was the best performance I have ever seen from Ben Affleck. That says a lot actually, because I usually stay well clear of his movies.The story in "Runner Runner" is about Richie (played by Timberlake) who loses 17.000 dollars on an online gambling site, and finds out that he was cheated. So he goes to Costa Rica to inform the owner of the site, gambling mogul Ivan Block (played by Affleck). Offering Richie a job with money and a luxurious lifestyle, Ivan soon have him working in his gambling dynasty, but all is not well beneath the golden surface.Story-wise "Runner Runner" is entertaining, although the story hardly seems plausible in any way. But hey, it is the movies after all. What makes this movie work was primarily the acting of Affleck and Timberlake.A predictable story, yes. But the movie is well-worth watching nonetheless. Just a shame that the movie didn't offer any twists and turns, nor does it really challenge the intellect of the audience.
rileytheawesome
This is the Dream Team movie. I love Ben Affleck. I love Justin Timberlake. There is nothing better than the two of them together for this movie. Sure, it's a really sh*tty movie about gambling. It's basically 21 with Ben Affleck playing Kevin Spacey and Anthony Mackie as Laurence Fishburne. The story is so dumb, it is perfect. Who needs a good story? Who needs good acting. You have f*cking Ben Affleck and f*cking Justin Timberlake. I could just watch these guys sit in a room together talking. I don't need a loose storyline about alligators and cheating and all that bullsh*t. It's in there, they made d*mn sure they had some stupid storyline in there. I can't wait for Runner Runner 2 starring Mark Wahlberg and Eminem. In fact let's call it Faster Faster. They won't be online gambling though, they would do something even duller like golf or bowling. An underground bowling team, led by Mark Wahlberg, cheating it's way to the top brings in unsuspecting Eminem for the final show. Perfect. Anyway, this was a f*cking awesome movie if you like the two actors, if you don't, don't bother watching the movie.
FlashCallahan
Richie is a student who's having trouble paying his tuition.He helps other students who want to gamble online, but for a small fee. When he gambles online himself, he loses but believes he was cheated.He goes to Costa Rica, where the site is generated from, and shows the owner, Ivan Block, proof that he was cheated.Block then offers him a job which he takes, and begins to learn how he does business. But the FBI want to nail Block, and intimidate Richie to help them......The structure for films like this are as old as the hills.Good guy confronts a high powered businessman, said man offers big money, there's always a good looking girl involved, cops close in, businessman tries to frame good guy, and so on.When you watch this film, you could be forgiven with thinking that the makers have completely ripped off Wall Street, because the narrative flows in the same way that movie did, Guy thinks he's made it, but his world comes slowly crashing.Even the dad's get involved in both movies.To criticise this movie would be too easy, it's been done hundreds of times before, much better, but for a piece of fluff movie, with nice locations, and good looking people, you could do a lot worse.Timberlake isn't the best actor in the world, but he can hold his own, and he has decent chemistry with Arterton, who is really just there as a plot point to get Richie and Ivan in some sort of subliminal feud.If you thought Affleck was great in movies such as Paycheck (which he obviously did this movie for), Gigli, and Deception, you've got him back here.He's phoning it in, and you know he just took the part for the money, and the holiday.Mackie is the best thing here, bringing a little tension and humour to a stale narrative.It's a dud, for sure, but it's a guilty pleasure.Take a gamble.
AD
