2006 ROUNDUP: RUNNING SCARED (Kramer)
RUNNING SCARED is a film that I enjoyed a great deal and which I believe would not exist were it not for Quentin Tarantino. It inspired perhaps one the worst discussion threads I have ever read (and imagine that, it's from the IMDb) and it stars a horrible actor, Paul Walker. It has Chazz Palminteri playing essentially a version of every role he's ever played and it features little kid actors promimently. To call the plot inane and absurd is to make a gross understatement. It is also to ignore completely the purpose of the film and the charms that it does contain.
RUNNING SCARED is described by writer/director Wayne Kramer as a patchwork of childhood fairy tales and the crime pictures of the 1970s. It is also very clearly designed to stun, shock, and thrill the audience into a kind of resigned numbness. Anyone who has been tattooed knows what it's like to have a needle rubbed over your skin for several hours at a time. Over time, the pain becomes a dull, irritating throb that only really hurts when new portions of the skin are being tattoed. RUNNING SCARED is over-reaching and tries its best to take on a variety of social issues, including child abuse, prostitution, police corruption, backyard meth labs and child predators. It solves all of these issues with the barrel of a gun. It is very much a continuation of the right wing vigilante wetdreams of John Milius and Walter Hill. The fact that it was made (and widely released) in 2006 is amazing and daring.
Hyper stylized in the style of David Fincher, the film is audacious, sometimes ridiculous, often cartoony. Standing in contrast to this is grisly, realistic violence that sends plasma flying across the screen. Kramer seems to want to hint at some subtext about it being a dark children's fable, but it's bullshit. RUNNING SCARED has nothing to say politically or socially. Characters spew ethnic pride and racist and homophobic rhetoric, little kids shoot adults, and the body count rises and rises and rises. It is trash of the highest order, but it is pretty to look at and never takes itself seriously. Which is ultimately refreshing. Even Walker, as afore-mentioned, a terrible actor, plays his role well, simply because it demands no emoting, nothing real or authentic, simply rage and fear and the knowledge that if you ever stop moving, you're dead. RUNNING SCARED attacks social issues with a gun rather than meditation because it realizes that slowing down is not an option. It is a homage to methods that I find personally detestable, but I also understand that it exists as fantasy and must be accepted on its own terms. In its own way, it exhibits style to burn and a rugged sense of individuality. It is very nearly a comment on the action genre, but in the end, prefers to be about nothing. Perhaps I find this admirable; perhaps this is why I enjoyed the movie. Clearly not 2006 Top 10 material by any stretch of the imagination, but it is unique in its own way.
RUNNING SCARED is described by writer/director Wayne Kramer as a patchwork of childhood fairy tales and the crime pictures of the 1970s. It is also very clearly designed to stun, shock, and thrill the audience into a kind of resigned numbness. Anyone who has been tattooed knows what it's like to have a needle rubbed over your skin for several hours at a time. Over time, the pain becomes a dull, irritating throb that only really hurts when new portions of the skin are being tattoed. RUNNING SCARED is over-reaching and tries its best to take on a variety of social issues, including child abuse, prostitution, police corruption, backyard meth labs and child predators. It solves all of these issues with the barrel of a gun. It is very much a continuation of the right wing vigilante wetdreams of John Milius and Walter Hill. The fact that it was made (and widely released) in 2006 is amazing and daring.
Hyper stylized in the style of David Fincher, the film is audacious, sometimes ridiculous, often cartoony. Standing in contrast to this is grisly, realistic violence that sends plasma flying across the screen. Kramer seems to want to hint at some subtext about it being a dark children's fable, but it's bullshit. RUNNING SCARED has nothing to say politically or socially. Characters spew ethnic pride and racist and homophobic rhetoric, little kids shoot adults, and the body count rises and rises and rises. It is trash of the highest order, but it is pretty to look at and never takes itself seriously. Which is ultimately refreshing. Even Walker, as afore-mentioned, a terrible actor, plays his role well, simply because it demands no emoting, nothing real or authentic, simply rage and fear and the knowledge that if you ever stop moving, you're dead. RUNNING SCARED attacks social issues with a gun rather than meditation because it realizes that slowing down is not an option. It is a homage to methods that I find personally detestable, but I also understand that it exists as fantasy and must be accepted on its own terms. In its own way, it exhibits style to burn and a rugged sense of individuality. It is very nearly a comment on the action genre, but in the end, prefers to be about nothing. Perhaps I find this admirable; perhaps this is why I enjoyed the movie. Clearly not 2006 Top 10 material by any stretch of the imagination, but it is unique in its own way.
Labels: 2006
posted by travis at 8:18 PM
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