Hey gang, Valkor here. I thought I was being funny and clever in my review of "Self Storage" when I stated that Eric Roberts will do just about anything when it comes to film. What's funny is that you never know when the dude will pop up. Take this next film, Run; I went into this one without reading up on it and wouldn't you know… Roberts shows up. I'll give the guy credit, there's no limit to what this man will do. Is there an Eric Roberts porno? I don't even…
"Run" stars William Moseley as Daniel (Prince Caspian), a young thief living life on the run with his father Mike (Adrian Pasdar). They do their best to stay one step ahead of everyone else who might want to get their hands on them, even sticking to a strict set of rules. But one night Danny breaks those rules by messing with a bunch of cops and their on the move once again. Mike decides the two needs to go back to New York, to face a past that has kept them on the run for so long. See Mike's wife was shot and killed whilst pregnant with young Danny. And her brother, Jeremiah (Eric Roberts), who is also a crime boss, believes Mike had something to do with it. But Mike wants to call a truce, to squash this mess, to get the truth out there and to have Jeremiah meet his nephew.
We're in NYC and Danny has been set up in a new high school where he tries to keep a low profile. However he instantly becomes friends with a group who practice parkour, led by Mark (Craig Henningsen). Oh did I forget to mention that Danny practices parkour? Yep that he does. But according to him, he never knew there was a name for it… he just does it. But in keeping with a low-profile, he pretends he sucks at it until there's a fire at their hangout spot and those moves come in handy as he saves not only Mark's life but another one of his friends. To show his appreciation, Mark allows Danny to date his sister Emily (Kelsey Chow), whom he had his eye on since he first saw her. The two instantly hit it off and it would appear everything is going in Danny's favor – hot girlfriend and a great bunch of friends, what could possibly go wrong?
Welp, it looks like Jeremiah and his goons have Mike and Danny in their crosshairs and secrets are revealed that disrupts the positive flow in Danny's life, causing a rift between him and his new pals. What's worse, Mike gets captured and tortured by Jeremiah and his right hand man Luke (Edoardo Ballerini). So Danny takes a stand, no more running, this is where it all has to end. He attempts to patch things up with Mark and in doing so Emily gets kidnapped by Jeremiah's goons. Now Danny not only has to rescue his father but his girlfriend as well. But don't worry; such a film won't have a bad ending.
If you're into parkour/freerunning then the next question is, is this the film for you? What if we tossed in some Eric Roberts for good measure? Come on, the dudes' gotta eat, right?
The Good:
Run is a pretty decent action/thriller with a dose of comedy and a little romance to zest things up. The biggest draw for Run however, is the heavy use of parkour throughout; from the start of the film to the climatic end, you're thrust into the world of freerunning. And it's loads of fun to watch; all the moves are well choreographed and framed just right so you get to see all the action, all of the moves. The film itself is pretty decent and a total time killer; if you're channel flipping and you happen to come across it, then you might stick around just to have something to do. But here's why you'll definitely want to stay for this one: Kelsey Chow, who is PerfectView all day every day! Overall, I wasn't let down with Run and I'll admit it was enjoyable.
The Bad:
For starters, I enjoyed the parkour aspect of the film, and yet a lot of the scenes look to have been put together "just because"; did we really need parkour when Danny was rescuing his friends from a fire? Or at the end, when Danny and Mark are racing to rescue Mike and Emily, objects were purposely placed in their path just so they can freerun around them. Don't get me wrong, I get it but it's just a little too obvious, you know? This is more or less nitpicking on my part and hey, maybe there is a bigger audience out there who will appreciate every aspect of the film. But such scenes as the ones I mentioned, I found them to be groan-inducing.
The Ugly:
My face every time Kelsey Chow is on screen:
Run gets an early DVD release next year (January 14th according to Amazon), and I think it's an average actioner, worth checking out especially if you're a fan of parkour. It's got some decent action and decent thrills, which makes for a pretty decent movie. And out of TOV 5 stars, Run gets a 2.5.
