Running Scared -- Movie Review #JPMN

• published: 13 Dec 2013
• views: 4554

• Running Scared (2006) -- Powerful emotions in unbelievable environments, 6/10. TWEET a review with the #JPMN hashtag, and have it featured! ~~ Movie Night Reviews ~~ Incorporating viewer comments, your host and film critic Jonathan Paula reviews everything from opening day releases, recent DVDs, upcoming trailers, and classics from years past. Along with your votes, each film is scored on the "Rate-O-Matic" for a 1-10 ranking. A "Five Word Summary" quickly encapsulates each review while "Factor Facts" highlight a film's best and worst features in ten key categories. Each "Quick Review" is an excerpt from a full episode, which airs on the Jogwheel channel every Friday, November - May. Born in February 1986, Jonathan Paula is a professional YouTuber, and creator of the hit web series, "Is It A Good Idea To Microwave This?". He graduated from Emerson College in 2008 with a degree in Television Production / Radio Broadcasting. He currently lives in Rockingham, NH with his wife Rebecca. ~~ Watch More Reviews ~~ Browse By Year ----- http://bit.ly/MNYear Browse By Rating --- http://bit.ly/MNRating Trailer Reviews ------- http://bit.ly/MNTrailers ~~ Channels, Social Media, & More ~~ Jogwheel (Main channel) --- http://bit.ly/Jogwheel Jon's World (2nd channel) - http://bit.ly/JonWorld The Microwave Show -------- http://bit.ly/TMSArchive Twitter ----------------------------- http://bit.ly/JonTW Facebook ------------------------ http://bit.ly/JonFBFan Live Shows ---------------------- http://bit.ly/JogLive T-Shirts --------------------------- http://bit.ly/JogStore ~~ Technical Credits ~~ Created by ------ Jonathan Paula Camera ---------- Panasonic HMC-150 Microphone ----- Sennheiser ME 66 Software --------- Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 Computer ------- http://bit.ly/JAV010 • Jogwheel Productions © 2013 • ~~ Review Script ~~ This $15-million dollar gritty and violent crime film from director Wayne Kramer failed to earn a profit when it was released in February of 2006. Playing against his typical pretty-boy typecast, Paul Walker contributes perhaps the best performance of his unfortunately short career. He stars as a low level player in the New Jersey mob, who despite being mixed up in some awful stuff, is otherwise an honest, family-loving man with a strong moral compass. A young Cameron Bright, the beautiful Vera Farmiga, cold Chazz Palminteri, the sexy Elizabeth Mitchell, the devilish John Noble, and a dozen other character actors make up the talented supporting cast. A bizarre altercation involving attempted murder at Walker's next-door neighbor finds him in a frenzy to cover up his involvement, and protect his family... during one long night of wild events, from a gang shootout, defending a prostitute, to robbing a pharmacy. The extremely R-rated experience is a dirty and loud one, with Kramer utilizing snap zooms, slow-motion, and carefully constructed camera moves to expertly bring the crime-filled hell-holes to life. The minimalist and droning score from Mark Isham functions like nails-on-a-chalkboard, keeping you perpetually on edge during the film's more tense moments. The 122-minute story becomes increasingly more convoluted and ridiculous though, with more coincidences and crossovers than an episode of Seinfeld. But, the individual sequences, especially when brave housewife Farmiga attempts to save some children from a couple of pedophile kidnappers. She later defends her vigilante actions to Walker by saying, "I have never seen evil before tonight." Fast moving, and visceral when it works, but otherwise scattershot and inconsistent, the movie is capped off by three separate endings, each one less believable than the last. When the credits finally rolled, I was left with both a sense of disbelief and surprise - this is a unique and interesting film worth watching at least once, but it's far too ambitious and disjointed for its own good. "Running Scared", "Powerful emotions in unbelievable environments". ~