Movie review: Runner Runner
What’s the story? Student Richie Furst likes online gambling and wins regularly. But when he loses his savings, he believes he was cheated and the travels to Costa Rica to confront online gambling tycoon Ivan Block. Block offers him a job and promises wealth and fortune, but it’s not long before Richie learns the disturbing truth about his benefactor. Throw in the FBI who wants to bring down Block and Richie faces his biggest gamble ever: attempting to outmaneuver the two forces closing in on him.
Who’s in it? Justin Timberlake drops suit and tie for his portrayal of Richie, an online poker player who loses everything, then gains everything when he meets Block, played by Ben Affleck, and comes close to losing everything again. Gemma Arterton (Hansel & Gretel) plays Rebecca, Ben’s associate and a girl Richie clearly has a thing for. Anthony Mackie (Real Steel) is Agent Shavers, the man on Block’s trail.
Who’s the director? Brad Furman whose previous outing as director was the Matthew McConaughey starring “The Lincoln Lawyer.”
What will you remember? Feeling like your oxygen levels are also running dangerously low and finding claw marks in the couch.
What’s the best scene? The “little surprise” at the end…
What’s the best line? Ivan Block: “This is your job. You want a clear conscience, go start a charity. But if you want your own island and your boss says you gotta go out there and take a beating, you go out there, take it and come back to work and say, 'do you need me to do it again?”
What other movies does it compare with? Wall Street, 21, Rounders.
With what piece of information can you impress your friends? Costa Rica only takes up .03% of the planet’s surface, but holds 5% of its biodiversity!
What did others have to say? Timberlake, to be fair, does decent desperation, convincingly gear-shifting from good-time Charlie to dead man walking by lengthening his stubble for a brooding urgency. You do root for him, and he turns tables with some neat plays. www.empireonline.com
Think Wall Street meets Casino as Justin Timberlake’s financial wiz Richie Furst is ripped off by Ben Affleck’s offshore gambling mogul Ivan Block, only to be lured into the tycoon’s high-rolling web. Sky Movies
It’s a flashy feature with chewy performances and a string of temptations. www.blu-ray.com
RATING: 6.5