So, let's see...

All but one person who's seen it has given it an A grade.

Yeah, if you haven't seen this yet, you probably should...

WHO GAVE IT A B?!?! WHO GAVE IT A B?!?!

Hehe. I saw it again. Took my father. He likes stuff like this.

I noticed just how great Walker's performance is this time around. It's really subtle. The way he clinches his jaw when he's nervous, and the way he nervously looks around the room every time someone brings up a cop. Solid stuff.

The whole cast is fantastic, really.

I went into this movie with very low expectations and I was literally blown away. The pacing is non-stop and the violence and blood was up there in the top 5 all-time. This is easily Paul Walker's best performance with the two twists at the end I didn't see coming.

Best movie of the year thus far.

A+

B

Better than I thought it'd be, especially from superhack Peter Hyams. Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal have a nice, easygoing chemistry. They should have made more movies together.

Hehe

So many thoughts go through your head after seeing this film. It's original, idiotic, stylistic, bizarre, bold, etc. This movie does take alot of chances thats for sure, not all of it actually works though and sometimes it goes to the realm of idiotism, but then sometimes the movie makes you say " WTF, how the hell did they go from that to this? That was bizarre yet brilliant "

Im sure the movie could've been amazing if they worked on that script some more and fixed those plot holes, cut down the movie a bit, and didnt pu$$y out on the end it would've been a pretty amazing film. This isnt Sin City where you basically got a paper thin plot thats just pretty straightforward, theres twists and turns and you cant really throw realism out the window in a movie like this.

Grade - B/B-

A-

An excellent and incredibly intense movie. Don't think I need to say much more than that, as it's already been run through in this thread. I felt it dragged a bit in the beginning after the opening scene, when it showed the families having dinner and such, but once the plot picked up it became awesome. Awesome is the appropriate word here, heh.

I just got done watching this film not knowing what to expect, I knew nothing about it. It blew me away. In ways it reminded me of Crash with a 'it cant get worse' feel,,, but it did. Really, my jaw dropped at some points. B+ maybe even an A- ......

B+


Well, I listened to makeshift's and Zingaling's praises and actually went to Cologne to see this movie at its only showing, at midnight. Good thing, I didn't regret it. It's not a perfect movie by any means, but I liked it a lot, especially considering it's a movie which has Paul Walker as its sole lead. Walker himself is not as annoying as he is in most of his films, but not quite remarkable either. I just liked the whole style and the way the storyline developed. The subplot with the child molesters was intense and as makeshift managed, all scenes in their apartment were magnificent, for instances the images of their shadows turning into monsters beyond the bathroom windows. Great and creepy imagery. The ending credits are also some of the best I have seen in a while.

The movie would have been even better if it got rid of the overly happy ending and ended a couple of minutes earlier, on a sadder note. It also could have benefitted from a more realistic showdown. Other than that, have little complaints. The kids in the movie were not annoying for once (except for that they hid the gun in the restroom!). Vera Farmiga did a good job and two great supporting characters were the John Wayne obsessing Russian and the insane pimp. I was throughly entertained. I think the pedophiles sublot was actually not necessary. It didn't add anything to the plot. However, it was probably the most suspenseful part of the entire film, so I didn't mind it.

I was furthermore surprised by the movie's brutality. Some nice and unglorified bits of violence there. Overall, it seemd more like an excercise in style than substance, but even then, it was style at its best.

Ooo, I have to disagree with you on the pedophile subplot. It truly brought the wife into the darkest side of the criminal world. To the point where she severed up (against her normal morals I presume) true justice. She tied it in with her speech about evil, which was a true eye opener for her. At that point she was in all the way by the side of her husband.

But without it plot, the movie wouldn't have lost anything. Certainly it served a purpose, but would you feel that something was missing, if the scene didn't exist?

I don't want to say no but I don't want to say yes either. I think the point of this film was similar to Crash. That in this group of people all lives are touching each other in one way or the other(in a bad way). In the wifes position, if you take that part out, she was just a wife and not really involved for the most part. This puts her smack dab in the thick of it. Shes put herself on her husbands level and she knows it, but she's justifying it in her mind. She thinks, ' maybe you aren't that bad, you might have a reason'. She's gonna stick by her man..

Could it have been left out? Sure, but I feel it really added to the story...

I guess then it depends on what you see as the story and to me the movie was pretty straight-forward. I didn't see it as another A History of Violence with some deeply layered meanings, heh. I did like the way the scene was shot, the way it was executed. I loved the sequence in which the wife kills both pedophiles, as you can certainly feel with her, so it was a well-made scene. But I still contend that if it was left out, I wouldn't have noticed that anything was missing.

Holy fuck.........

I reallly don't know what to say after this kind of movie, except that I loved every second of it. Loved might be kind of putting it a little too much because with a film with extreme graphic violence, drugs, pedophilla/murder, torture, prostitutes blowing each others face off, strippers, hockey, and kids with guns, how much can you love it? Oh wait, you can, especially if it has strippers and hockey. That saying, this movie has everything you can possibly imagine. Everything evil that is in the world, is included in this movie. Which leads me to my next point.

The ending, that was a must. It's not a cop-out. You can't put an audience through 120 minutes of what I listed above, and then kill off the family man at the end of the film. You just can't do that. Would it have been bold? Absolutely. But not worth it. If you want people to see this movie more than once you just can't do that. I'm still trying to understand the ending, and how that whole thing unfolded out. For instance, did his family know that was coming? I bet there is an implied scene in there when they arrive at the hospital, and surprise, he's alive, and then has to explain himself. It would've been pointless to show that because it ruins the very last scene, although it would've been interesting to see her reaction when she found out he was a cop for the entire time they were married.

You guys were also talking about the comparison to Crash and how everything connects with one another. I actually thought this film did a better job of getting that point across than what Crash or 11:14 tried to do.

Also, that scene where the mother finds what is going on with the three kids and the two adults, I almost wanted to cheer after what she did. That was perfect.

All in all, this is an excellent film and a huge surprise.

A+

Thank you Rawsaw and makeshift for recommending it...what a fantastic film. More later for sure!!

A

I expect a full review!

I actually have the weekend off, first time (that wasn't a vaca tion week) in 18 months, so I'll be spending some time writing reviews. Are you up for a call on Sunday sometime, Rich?

HOLY CRAP!!!!......That was INTENSE and BRILLIANT... i am in lost of words right now, that was seriously to insane!

The visuals were great and Paul Walker did an excellent job.

A+ (Best movie of 2006 so far)

A real hidden gem of a movie, lost amid the shuffle. Though it advertises itself as a crime/action flick, it is so much more that that. Deep down, the story is really a fairy tale, set amongst the horrors of modern metropolitans. Everything from pedophilia to torture is explored, standing in for the traditional evils of classic fantasy tales. The plot is quite complex, and probably requires repeat viewings to take it all in, and the dialogue is smart without being wordy, but the screenplay pales in comparison to the direction, which is outstanding. Nearly every shot is a treat, and the cinematography stands out to the point of showing off. Disturbing and intense, but never out of control.

Though it would be the most likely candidate for weak spot, the acting is surprisingly fantastic. Paul Walker, who I've never seen in a leading role before, but have always heard bad things, is great here. He really carries the film with his rapid-fire delivery of profanity-swelled lines, and he never slows down, because the film doesn't let him. The supporting cast is chock full of character actors, all of whom know exactly what to do, and up-and-comers, who quickly make a name for themselves. The characters are all slightly quirky but mostly believable; just modern updates of their archetypal counterparts. The scariest one - despite the amount of mob characters - is the female half of the pedophiliac couple - cold, evil, and creepy as hell. Indeed, the scenes with the couple are the scariest in the film, including a memorable scene with their shadows turning into monsters - an exceptional metaphor. It's too bad there weren't more of these visual hints in the film, save for the end credits, which are the best I've seen in some time. The entire metaphor is displayed right there.

The one weak spot would have to be the script. Though the film doesn't really rely on it, it is solid for most of the time, until the end, when the twist is revealed and renders the entire point of the film somewhat irrelevent. And then the ending is completely out there, but I suppose it fits in with the fairy tale metaphor. It could have been done a better way - it feels rushed (though most of the film is!) and hastily put together. Still, it's a minor complaint, and doesn't detract that much from the overall quality. An almost perfect film.

BJs Grade:

A+ - 9.5 | 10

This film is the shit, 100% the best film of the year easily, Walker surprised me to no end.

B

The cinematography and direction are top class. Paul Walker's the best he's ever been up til now. Ending is a little off-kilter.

Wonder how this was overlooked when it was released? Reviewed badly, did awful and disappeared.

This is honestly an action movie gem for me. It's too bad it's so underrated and under-seen. I thought it was terrific. Very brutal and entertaining, and Paul Walker has never been better. Also loved Vera Farmiga.

A-

Running Scared

What a great film. It has a fairytale, comicbook quality to it that I really liked. It doesn't hold back on the violence either, and Paul Walker is actually good here compared to wooden in the Fast movies. The part with the pedophiles was particularly brilliant. Vera Farmiga is hot yet again and does what needs to be done. Good twist that he was an undercover cop, although I had an idea he might have been from the very beginning, I guess being typecast as a cop from the Fast movies didn't help.

Kramer seems to be a competent filmmaker. I've seen The Cooler, which I liked but don't remember much, and I've got Crossing Over on my pps queue (similar to netflix). Running Scared is kind of in the same genre as Crank, but mixed with some originality and a dose of style. I especially liked the ending titles with the comicbook style design, it related to the whole movie very well (pedophiles shadow through the bathroom window, black man with dreads that kidnaps Oleg etc). I enjoyed its pace and how it all happens in 20 hours or so. What I didn't like was how Gazelle was able to live at the end.

B+