"Run" is one of those underrated gems that you hope to find when you take a chance and rent (or watch) a movie that you know very little about. I first rented this in 1991 when it came out on VHS and found it extremely entertaining...when the Mystery channel showed it again a while back, I made a point of catching it, and was pleased to note how well it holds up. This is the kind of movie where the performances are 'fat free' and underplayed and effective, where the stunts and action pieces are inventive and inspired without drawing too much attention to themselves, where the writing is economical and streamlined.
Admittedly, "Run" is definite "B" caliber, with a pretty shallow plot and cardboard characters, but within its parameters (action/crime thriller with Hitchcokian elements) it does a wonderful job. Patrick Dempsey is a completely believable 'everyman', a skinny nerdish type who shows up at the wrong place at the wrong time and gets into a heap of trouble. With corrupt cops and angry hoodlums chasing him, he has no choice but to try to get out of a town that the Mafia seems to own from City Hall on down. The screenplay is tightly plotted, with the screws being turned tighter and tighter on poor Dempsey with each new development, and his character's only advantage is that he is, well, extremely slippery.
Casting a skinny "geek" like Dempsey in this role was an inspired stroke . Dempsey is no one's idea of a typical 'action hero' and so he doesn't act like one...as a result his characters reactions are extremely credible. He can't do an "Ah-nold" or shoot things out like Dirty Harry - all he can do is squirm and wriggle and dodge his way out of tighter and tighter situations. And boy, does he (or his stunt doubles) wriggle. Action scenes and stunts in this movie are thus keyed to evasion,deception and Desperation. Our 'hero' slithers down stadium stairs and slides headfirst down bowling alleys and hurdles steeplejack style over and under obstacles and in general just runs like a rabbit from danger. Even at the climax, when he's finally been caught and subdued and is about to be thrown off a rooftop, he squirms so hard and frenziedly that the two hoodlums that were meant to toss him off end up losing their balance and falling in his place!
"Run" is very enjoyable for what it is, and can be enjoyed by any fan of films like "The Man Who Knew Too Much". After a long slump, Dempsey eventually went on to great success on television (most recently in "Grey's Anatomy") and went from a skinny geek to something of a "hunk"...that cheers me immensely...there may be hope for us all.
Admittedly, "Run" is definite "B" caliber, with a pretty shallow plot and cardboard characters, but within its parameters (action/crime thriller with Hitchcokian elements) it does a wonderful job. Patrick Dempsey is a completely believable 'everyman', a skinny nerdish type who shows up at the wrong place at the wrong time and gets into a heap of trouble. With corrupt cops and angry hoodlums chasing him, he has no choice but to try to get out of a town that the Mafia seems to own from City Hall on down. The screenplay is tightly plotted, with the screws being turned tighter and tighter on poor Dempsey with each new development, and his character's only advantage is that he is, well, extremely slippery.
Casting a skinny "geek" like Dempsey in this role was an inspired stroke . Dempsey is no one's idea of a typical 'action hero' and so he doesn't act like one...as a result his characters reactions are extremely credible. He can't do an "Ah-nold" or shoot things out like Dirty Harry - all he can do is squirm and wriggle and dodge his way out of tighter and tighter situations. And boy, does he (or his stunt doubles) wriggle. Action scenes and stunts in this movie are thus keyed to evasion,deception and Desperation. Our 'hero' slithers down stadium stairs and slides headfirst down bowling alleys and hurdles steeplejack style over and under obstacles and in general just runs like a rabbit from danger. Even at the climax, when he's finally been caught and subdued and is about to be thrown off a rooftop, he squirms so hard and frenziedly that the two hoodlums that were meant to toss him off end up losing their balance and falling in his place!
"Run" is very enjoyable for what it is, and can be enjoyed by any fan of films like "The Man Who Knew Too Much". After a long slump, Dempsey eventually went on to great success on television (most recently in "Grey's Anatomy") and went from a skinny geek to something of a "hunk"...that cheers me immensely...there may be hope for us all.