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The Runner
In the aftermath of the BP oil spill, an idealistic but imperfect New Orleans politician (Nicolas Cage) finds his plans of restoration unraveling as his own life becomes contaminated with corruption, scandal and deceit.
Release : | 2015 |
Rating : | 4.7 |
Studio : | Paper Street Films, Back Lot Pictures, KGB Media, |
Crew : | Art Department Coordinator, Production Design, |
Cast : | Nicolas Cage Sarah Paulson Connie Nielsen Peter Fonda Bryan Batt |
Genre : | Drama |
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Reviews
Such a frustrating disappointment
hyped garbage
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Pay the Ghost was one of the few good Cage movies that i was surprised and i actually liked and this one was another big surprise Nicholas Cage in this movie gives a really good performance and he's probably the only character i felt sorry for him including Peter Fonda. Everyone else tried to use him even his wife said that she loved him but if he didn't run for Senetor she would leave him? really? This movie is basically a political thriller and even if i said that the film was good it still has problems sometimes the dialogue was pretty bad and you can tell pretty easy. With it's ups and downs the movie was OK and i was surprised by Cage's performance. 7/10
Politicians are humans too. In case you were wondering or didn't know, this movie makes this clear. Though it does so, by using a lot of clichés. Still I take any decent role that Cage is putting out there and this certainly is one of them. While predictable and not as earnest as a recent politician who might be the front runner for the Democrats after President Obamas turn is over, the character portrayed by Nicolas Cage is charming, despite or maybe even because of his flaws and faults.Having said that, there is a bit of sugar coating going on here (though not in the department of nudity, in case you were wondering), and it might feel a bit out of touch for some. Still the flow of the movie is nice and it works (mostly) ...
With all the poor reviews from critics that I've seen on this film, plus its low rating on IMDb I was expecting very little here, so I was somewhat surprised that it turned out to be a reasonably decent watch. It does have many unlikable characters and it's not going to win feel-good movie of the year, but the acting is solid led by Cage and Sarah Paulson, and the story was engaging enough to keep my attention.Nicolas Cage can portray flawed characters as well as anyone, and he does so here as Colin Pryce, a Congressman from a Louisiana coastal district. He's from a family line of politicians, with his father (Peter Fonda) having been a revered Mayor of New Orleans years ago.After the disastrous 2010 BP oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico, Congressman Pryce's popularity soars after he gives impassioned testimony, on Capitol Hill, asking for help for the people in his constituency, and he's being seriously being considered as a Senate candidate for Louisiana.However, his extra-marital dalliance with a young woman is exposed in a closed circuit elevator video and, of course, ends up going viral on the net. Pryce decides to resign and ends up working as a pro bono attorney for citizen claimants against BP, and comes upon all the frustrations associated with bureaucracy and getting a large corporation to pay up. This will lead to Pryce's return to drinking after being sober for 16 years, as well as sparking divorce papers from his high powered and ambitious wife Deborah (Connie Nielsen).After some time has elapsed, Pryce will have to decide whether to "jump in bed" with the manipulative oil companies and re-enter the political world, or continue on the benevolent path he's been on. I might mention the very talented actress Sarah Paulson adds quite a lot to the movie, as a former consultant and friend of Pryce, and later a possible love interest.All in all, as some reviewers here have noted this film exceeded low expectations and became, in my opinion, a reasonably decent watch. I thought it was a good writing and directorial debut for Austin Stark, who's been a producer for a number of excellent films in the past.
Fully engulfing itself to mimic real situations, a congressmen attempting to save the fishermen of Louisiana who just suffered a crisis from an oil spill attempts to use this to run for senate, but a scandal ruins his chances, but he still has a cause to finish while fighting his personal demons.It's a great political drama, but I feel it suffers by exploiting real life events trying to pull on our heart strings for sentimental value. If the fishermen where army troops, it would be an exploitation film rather than a political drama. It also suffers form a lot of down time where nothing is really happening and moving too slowly for nothing to be going on.The movie is a tangled weave about how good deeds by positive people can be over shadowed by a media scandal that exploit their negative vices.It's an interesting look on how politics work and the necessaries of certain evils and how that works.The Runner is a different point of view on a familiar story. It's a bit grim when you soak it all in, but once again the slow pace and the stretching out of a story that could have been told in less than 90mins made it dull and incoherent at times weakening all the good qualities.It's too bad, cause Cage could have used a good movie were he's putting to use the acting chops that won him an Oscar.Cage plays a man struggling with personal demons, some his own vices. Some vices pass down from his father, played by Peter Fonda who becomes the center of attention the moment he comes on screen.Overall, it's not a bad picture, but it could have been better.