Runner Runner: a Film Review

Director: Brad Furman.

Writers: Brian Koppelman and David Levien.

Cast: Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton.

Run, Forrest, run? Who is running in Runner Runner and why does it happening? The title of this movie gives us no clue about what will happen next. All what inexperienced viewer can see is a glam squad of creators - Ben Affleck, an actor best known for Argo, Justin Timberlake, a dream boyfriend of teenage girls from the middle 00s, and irresistible Leonardo DiCaprio, still without an Oscar in 2013. Fortunately, he finally has got one since 2016.

So what is behind this intriguing name? In fact, Runner Runner has no relation to sports, jogging, or even police chases. “Runner runner” is a common slang term in poker which refers to the player who gets two running cards and makes his hand (a winning combination in poker). Seems to be surprising?

It’s not a coincidence: the whole plot revolves around online gambling. The main character, Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake), failed to receive free tuition due to having a bright career on Wall Street in the past. So now he gambles online to pay for his education in Princeton college.

One day he plays online poker and loses $17 thousand to a fishy opponent. Unsophisticated readers may not know that online poker is the same game we have in land-based casinos against real gamblers. Some people often confuse it with video poker. Actually, these are two completely different games.

Richie has chosen online poker to pay his fees because in this game you CAN win. The chances of winning are determined by your skill and the skill of your opponent, while in video poker all depends on the random number generator, just like in online slots. Even though there are video poker strategies that increase the likelihood of winning, the best possible theoretical outcome is still limited by the machine.

Because of this, Richie was sure he was gambling against weaker opponents, but once he has lost and started to gather his gambling statistics. Now he is committed to proving that he was deceived by a cheater on the other end of the web and claim his money back.

To do this, he goes to Costa Rica to meet an owner of an online gambling empire, Ivan Block (Ben Affleck), and show him the statistics on his gambling. After Ivan sees this statistics, he fires coders who hacked the system and proposes Richie to work for him on this website.

This twist is not the only counter-intuitive piece of the script. After receiving money from Ivan, Richie starts acting like his Princeton education has never existed. Moreover, he gets into the relationship with Rebecca (Gemma Arterton), Ivan’s right-hand woman and ex-lover. Ivan doesn’t mind.

We mentioned above that Timberlake is known for being a dream boyfriend for teenage girls from the 00s, but now he loses all his charm and turns to a very plain (not to say primitive) protagonist. The story behind his character is weak since he’s stopped caring about his education, so the only motivation he has is Ivan’s money. Justin is a great performer and proved it more than once in such movies as “The Social Network”, but the role of Richie Furst is obviously not his best one.

Affleck’s character is a cornerstone of the whole story. At the very beginning, he seems to be an intelligent and kind man when it the end he appears as the main villain. He is risky, he is smart, and he’s the one who brings the punch-line in the whole plot. Ivan could be a new Gatsby if there were more drama.

Gemma Arterton aka Rebecca Shafran performs well but her role isn’t rocket science. All she needs to do is to bat her eyes and smile. Their affair with Richie is not impressive at all: the characters failed to convey any feelings they were supposed to have.

Turning to the overall ambiance of this film, we could praise it for the setting in an exotic location and the plausible atmosphere of high-rolling life. But only could. Most of the scenes took place in Puerto Rico (the rest of them were taken in Princeton) and none of them was filmed in Costa Rica. Filmmakers tried to persuade us of being far from the USA, but they not really succeeded in their intention.

As another flash of the pan, this movie is good. If you want to watch a crime thriller but feel too tired to involve your brain and empathize with the characters, this movie is for you. It’s a great pick to watch after a hard working day or at the party but is not a real option for all other purposes. So if you are searching for a real thriller with a real tension, look another way.

Our verdict: Runner Runner deserves only one run, despite its brilliant cast.

Overall: 4.25 out of 10.


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