Runner review

This is an Angel Studios movie, but it is another one in their line of movies that doesn't quite fit the perception people have of that studio. They buy independent productions too, sort of like A24 and some of the other mid-major studios, and this is basically just a traditional action movie. If nobody told you Angel was distributing it, I don't think you would have any idea.

Alan Ritchson plays Hank, a former Navy SEAL who's gone through a whole host of life problems. Messy divorce, alcoholism, lost a child, all kinds of stuff. Owen Wilson plays Ben, a courier responsible for getting an organ to a transplant surgery, and Hank gets pulled into helping him get it from one place to another without getting blown up or losing the organ to the people who are trying to take it. Most of the movie is a sort of comedic buddy movie between Ritchson and Wilson mixed in with a typical chase movie, and I thought it was pretty good.

This is basically a classic traditional actioner where Ritchson gets to be the hero and he'll do whatever it takes to save the child whose life depends on them getting this organ where it needs to go. I think he's pretty good in this kind of role. He's sort of sliding into that '80s and '90s action hero space, and we don't really have many of those guys anymore because most of our action heroes are comic-book characters at this point. This is just tough guy fights criminals to save child, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

He did Motor City earlier this year, which was basically tough guy fights all of Earth to get justice for himself and rescue his woman. Now we've got tough guy fights everybody to save a child. I like him in these roles. I think he has the physical presence for it, and he has enough personality to carry this kind of movie without needing a superhero costume or a bunch of mythology around him.

My problem with Runner is that this movie very clearly feels like it was cut substantially to get it down to PG-13. It was obviously meant to be a much more violent movie, with lots of blood, shooting, stabbing, knifing and everything else, but you can see where pieces have been cut out. The action gets choppy in places because the camera suddenly cuts away from the gunshot wound or stabbing you know was supposed to be there. There are probably 30 people shot and killed in this thing and almost nobody bleeds except occasionally the protagonists.

I don't think the cuts were done cleanly, and it takes something away from the action sequences because you feel like you're missing things. At the same time, I know some people are mad at Angel Studios for cutting it, and I don't really think that's fair. This movie wasn't getting picked up, or at least the bigger studios didn't go for it, and that's why somebody like Angel had a chance to get it into theaters. If the only way we're getting the movie is that it has to fit Angel's standards, then so be it.

Hopefully we get a director's cut or an unrated version once it gets to streaming or Blu-ray, because I think this would definitely benefit from having some of that material put back in. As it is, though, I still think Runner is very good. I like this line of work for Ritchson and I hope he keeps it going. I'm also happy Angel is spending money to get more broadly friendly fare into theaters. I don't know if this movie exactly qualifies given how many people Ritchson kills, but I see what they're going for and I'm okay with it.