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Movies / On DVD / Running Scared
Running Scared

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Running Scared (2006)

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Reviews Counted:126

Fresh:50

Rotten:76

Average Rating:4.5/10

Consensus: This film runs with frenetic energy punctuated by gratuitous violence but sorely lacks in plot, character development and stylistic flair.

Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: Not the 1986 Billy Crystal-Gregory Himes buddy cop movie of the same name, 2006's RUNNING SCARED is writer/director Wayne Kramer's (THE COOLER) take on the violent gangster crime genre. Paul Walker... Not the 1986 Billy Crystal-Gregory Himes buddy cop movie of the same name, 2006's RUNNING SCARED is writer/director Wayne Kramer's (THE COOLER) take on the violent gangster crime genre. Paul Walker (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS) plays Joey Gazelle, a low-level Mafia thug who finds himself in the middle of a drug deal gone wrong, with a hail of gunfire and some dead undercover cops as the net result. Fleeing from the scene, Joey is charged with getting rid of one of the steel snub-nosed revolvers used to kill the cops. Instead, he stashes the gun in his own basement, just in case he ever needs insurance against his own gang. Unfortunately, Joey's 10-year-old son, Nicky (Alex Neuberger), and his best friend, Oleg (Cameron Bright), see where the weapon is hidden. Oleg, whose Russian mob-connected stepfather is physically abusive towards him and his mother, steals the gun to exact revenge. Shooting his father in the shoulder, he runs away with the "hot" gun. This forces Joey to embark on a nightmarish 18-hour journey to locate Oleg and the gun before his own gang, the Russian Mafia, or bad cop Detective Rydell (Chazz Palminteri) finds them or the true link between the gun and the crimes. In a film dedicated to directors Sam Peckinpah, Walter Hill, and Brian De Palma in the closing credits, Kramer splatters the screen with a level of violence that would make those masters proud. Drained of bright colors, stylish, and feverishly fast-paced, RUNNING SCARED is one bloody thrill-ride. [More]

Starring: Chazz Palminteri, Paul Walker, Cameron Bright, Ivana Milicevic

Starring: Chazz Palminteri, Paul Walker, Cameron Bright, Ivana Milicevic, Johnny Messner, Vera Farmiga

Director: Wayne Kramer

Director: Wayne Kramer
Screenwriter: Wayne Kramer
Producer: Brett Ratner, Andrew Pfeffer
Composer: Mark Isham
Studio: New Line Cinema

[See More Credits]

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1 - 4 of 7

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Reviews for Running Scared

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
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Stylish, rollicking post-Tarantino trash which does the business at such a pace you barely notice its preposterousness.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Angie Errigo
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No one in their right minds could call this a good film, but it's certainly unique.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/11/06
Andrew Pulver
Andrew Pulver
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If you've ever wanted to see Paul Walker get repeatedly smashed in the teeth with a hockey puck then this is the movie for you.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
03/11/06
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

We haven't even mentioned the hockey puck torture scene, or the relentless ricochetting camerawork, or the multiple last minute switcheroos -- it's got more endings than Lord Of The Rings.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
03/11/06
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Clumsily overwritten, straining badly to be a complex thriller but only generating small moments of believability.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
03/01/06
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

With audiences jaded by the usual sex and splatter, do the filmmakers have no qualms about juicing up proceedings with edgy but troubling material which clearly needs more conscientious handling? Apparently not.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Trevor Johnston
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
03/11/06
Dallas Morning News

The end result of all these cross-mob confrontations is an orgy of nihilistic violence that is curiously exhilarating, I am almost ashamed to say.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
03/01/06
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

May be the first original screenplay that unfolds in a setting so grim, despairing and yet slightly hallucinatory that it could’ve been adapted from Grand Theft Auto.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
02/24/06
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
FilmStew.com

Running Scared exists in that world of movies where there are no good guys - just bad guys, worse guys and worst guys.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
03/24/07
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
UGO

If Running Scared sometimes looks like a storyboard sprung violently to life, Kramer's assured direction turns that into its greatest strength in the clinches, of which there are plenty.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
02/23/06
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News

Luciano Pavarotti's eyebrows during the Olympic opening ceremonies were disturbing. Multiply that by about 1,000, and you have the creep-out factor in the gory Running Scared.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
02/23/06
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Running Scared doesn't go over the top - it refuses to even acknowledge that there is a top.. it's like if Tarantino directed The Warriors

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment Comment
02/24/06
Devin Faraci
Devin Faraci
CHUD

If Quentin Tarantino and David Fincher shared a brain, developed a fever, then read 'Hansel and Gretel' and 'Oliver Twist' before falling asleep, they might dream of something like Running Scared.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
02/23/06
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

This film is so over the top at times that it takes one's breath away.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
02/25/06
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

Wayne Kramer's latest film is a hard-hitting, visceral, over-the-top extravaganza of blood and bullets that doesn't let up for one second.

Full Review Source: DVD Review | comment Comment
07/10/07
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
DVD Review

Since The Target Audience Is A Mature One, Why The Matinee Ending?

Full Review Source: Outtakes With Fiore | comment Comment
02/26/06
Fiore Mastracci
Fiore Mastracci
Outtakes With Fiore

A well-acted piece that should appeal to anyone who enjoys the films of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
10/09/06
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

Creative risks pay off big in 'Running Scared.' They give the film a refreshingly different feel.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/26/06
Frank Wilkins
Frank Wilkins
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Those of you hoping for a remake of the delightful Billy Crystal/Gregory Hines buddy comedy are in for something very different with this Running Scared. Ultra-violent and hardcore, it's a worthwhile ride even though it doesn't all work.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
02/23/06
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Running Scared

February 22, 2007: Box Office Guru Preview: Jim Carrey Aims to Terrify Moviegoers
Following a busy holiday weekend when five new releases opened nationwide, the crowded marketplace will now face another four new films invading multiplexes everywhere. More...

March 31, 2006: Dinklage to Play "Underdog" Villain
Peter Dinklage, indie-centric actor best known for his work in "The Station Agent" and "Elf," has been tapped by Disney to play the villain in the studio's... More...

February 27, 2006: Tyler Perry "Madea" Few Million Bucks Last Weekend
Tyler Perry's follow-up to "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," "Madea's Family Reunion" had no trouble leaping to the top of the box office in its first weekend,... More...

February 24, 2006: "Scared" Director Seeks "Evil
Wayne Kramer, director of "The Cooler" and this weekend's "Running Scared," will write and direct his next flick for Weinstein Co. It's a horror flick called... More...

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