5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.1 |
A businessman who owns an offshore gambling operation finds his relationship with his protégé reaching a boiling point.
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, Gemma Arterton, Anthony Mackie, Michael EsperThriller | 100% |
Crime | 91% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
German: DTS 5.1
Italian: DTS 5.1
Turkish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
The internet has probably been as much of a curse as it has been a blessing, and perhaps nowhere is that first tendency as clearly evident as in the case of online gambling. In days of yore, one had to go to physical establishments (most of them in places like Las Vegas) to get a dose of adrenaline as dice were tossed or cards were dealt. But with the development of the world wide web, one of the chief vices (along with porn) that became rampant globally was the profusion of gambling sites. According to a whirlwind montage that sets Runner Runner off on its highly improbable course, online gambling accounts for literally hundreds of millions of dollars of activity every year, and as an internet guru played (rather improbably) by Ben Affleck avers somewhat later in the film, his particular site clears well over $750,000 in net profit per day. Per day. There’s a bit of “déjà vu all over again” throughout Runner Runner, especially for those who may have seen the somewhat similar 2008 drama 21 starring Kevin Spacey. In both of these films, scrambling for the insane tuition costs at a tony Ivy League school lead students to gamble, and in both films, statistical evidence provides a fulcrum on which part of the plot hinges. In this particular instance, Justin Timberlake portrays (yes, rather improbably) newbie Princeton Masters Degree student Richie Furst, who has ended up at the school after his cushy hedge fund manager job went up in smoke with the Wall Street bust of a few years ago. Richie has been referring players to an online gambling site for a small commission, but when the Princeton bigwigs get wind of the situation, they put Richie on notice that his efforts must stop. Like any adrenaline junkie, Richie decides to just get on the site himself and play online poker in order to make his tuition in one fell swoop, but he’s handily beaten by a guy who doesn’t seem to even know the basics of poker. When he enslists a buddy of his with an expertise in statistics to prove that this wasn’t a mere fluke, he decides that heading off to Costa Rica to confront the owner of the site is the best option.
Runner Runner is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. This high definition presentation is often quite beautiful looking, with somewhat pushed contrast and deeply saturated colors which are often skewed toward an orange amber side of things. Fine detail is very good if not overwhelming throughout the presentation (look at the nap on Affleck's terrycloth robe in the second screenshot), but Furman and his DP Mauro Fiore frame a lot of this film in midrange shots which by their very nature tend to curtail incredible fine detail. The location footage is often quite nice looking, with great depth of field (see screenshots 6 and 12). There were no obvious compression artifacts on display and also no signs of aggressive digital tweaking of the image.
Runner Runner features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix which tends to be a bit more front heavy than many films of this general ilk. While there's some attention to ambient environmental sounds, the bulk of the surround activity here tends to be with regard to Christophe Meck's score and the occasional source cue. Dialogue is always cleanly and clearly presented, and the track boasts excellent fidelity and above average dynamic range.
Runner Runner piles on so many improbabilities that it all collapses under the accrued weight. The cast is certainly attractive if not overly skilled, but the dialogue is so relentlessly ludicrous that probably not even Sir Laurence Olivier could have made a go of it. Director Brad Furman simply doesn't seem to know how to shape this ungainly mess, and the result is a pretty tepid stew that lacks any real thrills or suspense.
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