Running Scared (2006 film)

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This article is about the 2006 American film. For other films of the same name, see Running Scared.
Running Scared
Running scared.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWayne Kramer
Written byWayne Kramer
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJim Whitaker
Edited byArthur Coburn
Music byMark Isham
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • January 6, 2006 (2006-01-06) (United Kingdom)
  • February 24, 2006 (2006-02-24) (United States)
Running time
122 minutes[2]
Countries
Languages
  • English
  • German
  • Russian
  • Ukrainian
Budget$15 million[2]
Box office$9.7 million[2]

Running Scared is a 2006 action thriller film[3] written and directed by Wayne Kramer, starring Paul Walker and Cameron Bright. The film follows a low-ranking mafioso who is ordered to get rid of a gun used to kill corrupt cops and finds himself in a race against time when the gun ends up in the wrong hands.

The film was released theatrically in the United States on February 24, 2006.

Plot[]

A big drug deal between New Jersey mobsters and a Jamaican gang goes awry, leading to a shootout that kills two corrupt cops who were trying to rob the gangs. Mobster Tommy Perello orders his subordinate, Joey Gazelle, to dispose of the weapons; Joey goes home with his wife Teresa (with whom he has sex on top of the washing machine) and his ten-and-a-half-year-old son Nicky (who was playing with his neighbor and friend Oleg), and puts the guns away in their basement. Unbeknownst to him, Nicky and his friend Oleg are secretly watching him.

Oleg steals one of the guns before going home to his mother Mila and her abusive stepfather Anzor. When Anzor becomes belligerent, Oleg shoots him before leaving the house. When Joey goes to investigate the disturbance, he finds an injured Anzor who then describes the gun. Joey realizes it's one of the guns he hid earlier and rushes to locate Oleg before the police do.

Throughout the night, Oleg meets many unpleasant people: a homeless crack addict, a drug dealer, and finally an abusive pimp named Lester and his prostitute, Divina. After Oleg helps Divina, she decides to take care of him from her. She takes him to a restaurant where they find Joey, who explains to his boss, Frankie Perello, that Oleg has the gun. Oleg hides the gun in the dining room bathroom, and after leaving with Divina, the police officers find him and return him to Anzor.

Oleg escapes again and is taken in by a kind family. When Oleg becomes suspicious of them, he discreetly calls Teresa, who then arrives from her and threatens to break into her apartment. She rescues Oleg and tells him to go with the other children, then murders the parents after finding evidence of snuff film and other paraphernalia. Meanwhile, Joey continues to search for him and finally finds Oleg. However, just before he can retrieve the gun, he and Oleg are found by Tommy, who goes to take them to Frankie.

Tommy takes Joey and Oleg to an ice hockey rink to meet Frankie and Russian mob boss Ivan. Ivan has brought Anzor to try to get Oleg to tell them the source of the weapon he used. When Ivan slaps the boy, Joey lashes out at Ivan and he, in turn, is subdued and beaten by Ivan's thugs. When Anzor refuses to kill Oleg, Ivan kills him, then turns to kill Oleg. Before he can, Joey distracts him by accusing Frankie of planning to attack the Russians because Anzor was cooking meth on Frankie's turf. A shootout ensues between the two gangs, leading to the deaths of Tommy and Ivan. When Frankie tries to shoot Joey, the latter reveals that he is an undercover FBI agent, displaying a wire hidden under his shirt. Oleg then distracts Frankie, allowing Joey to disarm and kill him. Joey and Oleg then walk out as the FBI and local police storm the building.

Joey and Oleg return to the diner for breakfast to find Lester holding the gun Oleg had hidden earlier. In the ensuing struggle, Lester shoots Joey in the stomach, but not before Joey fatally stabs Lester with a switchblade knife. Joey and Oleg struggle to get back to Teresa and Nicky. Meanwhile, Mila, thinking Oleg is dead, commits suicide by blowing herself up in the Anzor meth lab. Just as Teresa and Nicky run off to investigate, they see Joey crash his car after losing consciousness.

Days later, Teresa and Nicky attend Joey's funeral along with Oleg, who has been adopted by the family. They drive to a small farm, where Joey, who faked his death to protect himself and his family after being exposed as an undercover FBI agent, leaves.

Cast[]

Reception[]

Locker[]

Running Scared opened with $3,381,974 from 1,611 screens (for an average of $2,099 per theater). It went on to earn a total of $9.4 million worldwide, failing to recoup its modest budget of just $15 million.[2]

Critical Response[]

Running Scared received negative reviews from film critics. It currently has a 41% approval rating on the movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the general consensus reads, "This movie runs on frantic energy peppered with gratuitous violence, but it lacks a lot of plot, character development and style".[4] The film has an average of 41 out of 100, based on 30 reviews, on the movie review site Metacritic.[5]

Justin Chang of Variety described Whitaker's cinematography, which used primarily Steadicam and , as "[dazzling] with a desaturated palette that yet it has a rich, grimy sheen to it." He also noted that the movie had an odd plot, which was charming given that it was filmed in Prague rather than somewhere closer to New Jersey.[6] Sam Wigley of Sight and Sound said the vicious underworld depicted in the film resembles a "wicked fairytale kingdom," albeit dark, and "plays in a dizzying blur of comic book hyper-reality." .[7]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Running Scared (2006)". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Running Scared at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ "Running Scared (2006) - Wayne Kramer". AllMovie.
  4. ^ Running Scared at Rotten Tomatoes
  5. ^ Running Scared at Metacritic
  6. ^ Chang, Justin (February 27, 2006). "Movie Reviews: Energy and Blood Flow via Mob Actioner". Variety. 402 (2): 31, 38.
  7. ^ Wigley, Sam (March 2006). "Reviews: Movies: "Running Scared"". Sight and Sound. 16 (3): 77. ISSN 0037-4806.

External links[]

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