"Runner Runner" Not Bad, Not Bad

Runner Runner (2013)

Rated R

Starring Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, Gemma Arterton, Anthony Mackie,

Directed by Brad Furman

The Story:

Richie (Timberlake) is trying to make ends meet and make his college tuition by rounding up people to use an online poker site owned by Ivan Block (Affleck). However, when Richie ends up losing a fortune, he discovers a flaw in the system and crashes a party to let Ivan know that his site is being rigged by someone. Ivan thanks him by offering him a job, and Richie quickly rises to become his right hand man. However, that's a very dangerous place to be...

There are flashes of brilliance and great performances to be had throughout this film.

Timberlake, as always, seems to be a natural in front of the camera, and when he hangs up his singing career for good, he's got a great second career to fall back on.

Naturally, a hero is only as good as the villain, and Affleck plays along as the menacing thug who can make or break Richie (or anyone for that matter) with just a few choice words.

When the two are together, the storyline picks up.

The problem, the two don't share a whole ton of screen time.

The other major players are Arterton as Ivan's girlfriend who has a thing for Richie...

And Mackie who gets to play a corrupt FBI agent.

Throw in a heist, betrayals and backstabbing and the movie had great ideas that just didn't fully come across.
That's a shame, because again, those flashes of brilliance could have made this a repeat viewing.

Final Grade:  C+

"The Voices" Made Him Do It

The Voices (2014)

Rated R

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver

Directed by Marjane Satrapi

The Story:

Jerry (Reynolds) is a nice, quiet, unassuming guy who has some issues. His doctor (Weaver) insists that he take medication, but when he does, life seems so dull and grey. He prefers to skip the meds, because life seems so much brighter and he gets to talk to his pets, Bosco and Mr. Whiskers. They talk back to him as well and encourage him to do things. Some of those things aren't very nice...

 Here's a dark comedy about a serial killer who doesn't really mean to be one.

He's simply trying to date his office crush, Fiona (Arterton). Things take a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills her.

Or was it an accident?  Jerry is never really sure.

That was bad enough, but when Fiona's head starts telling Jerry about how lonely she is and would really like a friend, that's when Jerry has to decide whether or not to go after Lisa (Kendrick) and have a relationship with her, or make her a victim.

Hey, I guess if you can have a successful series on cable about a serial killer, what's wrong with a darkly humorous movie that tries to have a little fun with the voices that some people have in their head?

The worst part about the movie: you start feeling bad for Jerry and hope that he will get away with it. Perhaps that's just how likable Reynolds is as an actor.

:)

Available for streaming on Amazon Prime as of this writing.


Final Grade:  C+