Over the year Justin Timberlake has transfers from being a music superstar to a decent leading man most often appearing in not so memorable films. Ben Affleck has stepped his game up to become one of the most sought after directors in the industry. Now these two guys are teaming up for their latest film Runner Runner, but with trailers that didn’t offer a whole lot can these guys bring something to the table or will it fold early in the game?
Runner Runner follows a Princeton grad student who believes he was cheated in online poker and travels to Costa Rica to confront the gambling tycoon behind it all. He is quickly seduced by the promise of immense wealth until he discovers the truth about his new boss and now is in the game of his life against both the tycoon who gave him everything and the FBI that wants to bring him down. This is one of those films that isn’t bad but it’s nothing all that special either. The story tries really hard to be clever and throw in some twists and turns, but sadly are pretty predictable and never delivers all that much. The cast deliver some decent performances but the kind that anyone could have stepped into the roles. Timberlake is fine in the role there is just not all that much for him to do. The always great Ben Schwatrz shows up for a brief moment and offers up a great partner for Timberlake’s character, but instead of him being involved for the bigger story he is quickly gone with some throw away characters used instead. The real stand outs here were Anthony Mackie and Ben Affleck. While he is a there a bit longer Mackie is sadly underused as well, but knocks his character out of the park as usual. Affleck’s time directing has clearly increased his acting ability as well since focusing more on directing. He chews up the scenery and is the one entertaining part of this entire film.
Once again this isn’t a horrible film it’s just one that is unmemorable and really doesn’t offer much other than some cool cinematography. The upside is this is a good chance to get to see Affleck in a role that gives a bit of a glimpse at what his Bruce Wayne could look like and it’s cool. If you are a fan of anyone in this film then you might enjoy it just lower your expectations.
