Running Scared

Joey Gazelle does small jobs for the mob. Told to get rid of the guns used to kill two policemen, he hides them in his basement. Oleg, the boy next door, finds one and shoots his stepfather, a Russian gangster, then runs. Joey has to get the gun back, because his own employer's murder is on it. He tears the city apart chasing the boy through one night. Wayne Kramer wrote and directed. Paul Walker plays Joey, Cameron Bright plays Oleg, Vera Farmiga plays Joey's wife and Chazz Palminteri plays the corrupt detective Rydell. The film is remembered for its manner. Realism is not the aim; the colours are pushed, the camera never settles and the violence is deliberately excessive. The most talked-about section is at an ice rink, where a crime boss has hockey players fire pucks at the hero's teeth, shot under black light with everything glowing purple. The box office collapsed. It opened on 1,611 screens with 3.38 million dollars, fell 60.8 percent in its second weekend and closed on 6.86 million domestically, 9.4 million worldwide against a 15 million budget. The reviews divided: Rotten Tomatoes 41 percent across 130 critics, with an audience score of 79. The film found its people on home video and streaming. Who it is for: viewers who like excessive, fast, heavily stylised crime films. Who it is not for: anyone who cannot take a child in danger. One section in the middle is deliberately unbearable.