Runner – Movie Review
Alan Ritchson is working overtime to develop himself as one of the more exciting action stars of the 2020s. Between Reacher, War Machine and Motor City, the bulking specimen of muscle and brawn is undoubtedly a presence on screen, featuring in some truly testosterone driven flicks (but real ones remember his energetic, juvenile turn as Thad in Blue Mountain State!). And that developmental streak continues with another actioner that ticks all the boxes for “movies your dad will love”, the action-drama-comedy co-starring Owen Wilson, Runner.
Ritchson plays Hank, a former soldier who is now living a life of sobriety and isolation in Brisbane, Australia after the recent death of his daughter, and subsequent breakdown of his marriage. Working as a specialised delivery man, often for rich clients with items that are a little different to the average Amazon package, Hank takes on a last minute, highly important job – escorting a liver to a sick girl on the Gold Coast, along with the liver’s handler, Ben Bishop (Wilson). However, an encounter with deadly, ruthless mercenaries soon leads Hank and Ben to discover that the liver they’ve been asked to deliver is connected to a violent and volatile criminal, Damian (Rodrigo Santoro), who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants.
Runner is not only set in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, but the film was also shot there, utilising lots of noticeable locations for locals (me!) that aren’t usually seen on the big screen, and serve for a fresher setting for some high-octane set pieces to go down. The ticking countdown of having to get from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, with some urgency, also adds to the story’s natural tension points.
Action and tension are the two main strengths of the film, and luckily, Runner has plenty of both. Under the direction of Scott Waugh (Act of Valor, Need for Speed), there is a wide variety of action violence occurring throughout the 95 minute runtime. Car chases, shootouts, and brutal hand-to-hand combat that at times very much so pushes the line of PG-13 levels of violence. While the action choreography doesn’t always feel as stylised or polished as films like John Wick and the likes have presented to audiences over the years, for a more modest budgeted adventure like Runner, you definitely get the bang for the buck. Plus, the convincing screen presence of Alan Ritchson, often found here just hurtling bad guys through walls, makes for some very entertaining sequences of pure brutality.
Ritchson also gets to flex a more dramatic muscle with his turn as Hank, who is a man living in a lot of grief and despair. While the actual examination of his emotional journey is quite surface level and formulaic, Ritchson brings a lot of sincerity and sensitivity to the performance when the drama is at the forefront. He is a sober man, a grieving father, and a veteran who has vowed off of violence – it’s all tropes that have been used many times before. Plus, you add on the fact that there is an innocent, sick child relying on him to reach her on time – another classic “dad movie” trope – and you get as much drama as you need to invest emotionally into the explosive story. But it is the drama that begins to bring out some of the film’s more glaring flaws.
Runner is a big bag of genre and tone clashes, and that is because not only is the film trying to be a big, bold action flick and a surface level drama, but it also features a lot of comedy thanks to the addition of Owen Wilson. The smooth-talking, wise cracking demeanour of Wilson that makes him so beloved is very much featured here, and it adds a lot of levity to the story. The story smartly doesn’t suddenly turn Wilson’s Ben Bishop into an unlikely action hero, but through his bravery by sticking with Hank throughout the insanity, it makes him a hero in his own right. But many times, some of those moments are undermined by a sheen of goofiness (which sometimes Ritchson also finds himself a victim of)that really throws the overall tone of the movie for a loop.
While Runner definitely delivers on some high-octane action, it occasionally falls into story tropes and tonal issues that make its overall experience feel a little all over the place. But what it does well is solidify that Alan Ritchson is going to be an action star to keep an eye on, and that Brisbane is a great location to give Hollywood productions a fresh vibe.
Runner is in Australian cinemas September 10
