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The Runner

1999, Movie, R, 93 mins

The Runner: Review

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When his Uncle Rocco (Joe Mantegna), a smalltime crook, ropes him into the betting rackets, Edward (Ron Eldard) can't believe his good fortune. What weak-willed Edward doesn't realize is that Rocco's sadistic boss Deep Throat (John Goodman) likes nothing more than punishing ne'er-do-wells who've let him down. Given a few rules to follow (Don't gamble with the boss's money. Don't give away the boss's picks, etc.), Edward follows a long list of losers by breaking them. Meanwhile, Rocco screws up so badly, Deep Throat feeds him to his guard dogs. Despite the love of a good croupier named Karina (Courtney Cox Arquette), Edward loses $100,000 entrusted to him by his vicious employer. When Karina becomes pregnant, Deep Throat suggests Edward square his debt by giving him his first-born. It's hard-boiled! It's gritty! It's florid! This forgettable gas-bag of pretensions is a sucker bet. If you write a story about a fool and deliberately instill in that character no saving graces and then instruct the actor to play him as a charmless chump, what's left for the audience to like? Monumentally miscast, Goodman plays a scorpion but suggests a bumblebee. The others take their cue from a screenplay that rushes about without any clear sense of destination leave a comment --Robert Pardi
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