TL;DR – While I had some fun, this is one of those films where you will either be in for the ride or bounce off it so hard.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Runner Review Introduction

Today we are looking at Runner, which should not be confused with The Runner that we looked at last week. This is a bit of an odd film for me because I am reviewing a movie not just filmed in my hometown, but actually set in it. Which brings a lot of joy when you see them in locations I know so well, but then also a real disconnect when the geography makes no sense. Let’s see how that juxtaposition pans out.

  So, to set the scene, Hank Malone (Alan Ritchson) is an ex-Navy SEAL living in Brisbane, Australia. Hank is one year sober and works as a runner, bringing items usually legal, sometimes not so, from one location to another as quickly as possible. A good example of this is a parrot from one divorced partner to the other. The day was meant to be over until an emergency last-minute parcel arrives via plane from Honolulu. But this parcel, an organ, comes attached to Ben Bishop (Owen Wilson). They just need to get the liver from Brisbane to the Gold Coast hospital before the time runs out. It is a simple run, well, it should be, but that is when some black SVUs filled with gun-wielding bikies start hunting them down.

The Action Tone

 Now, where the Runner ends up tone-wise is not quite a full action-comedy, but it is leaning in that direction. There are a lot of quips, so many quips, but they sort of take the action seriously. I say sort of because there are moments when all reality falls apart, such as the most ridiculous car collision I have seen this year. However, you do sort of go with it because Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson make it work. Thankfully, they do have a good rapport as the stern straight man and the completely fish-out-of-water talk-a-thon, which makes a good juxtaposition to our main antagonist, Damian Zaldívar (Rodrigo Santoro), who is hamming it up a bit. There is a lot of him flipping sweaty hair out of his eyes.

The action set pieces themselves work quite well, partly because you have the physicality of Alan Ritchson that helps sell it, and also because the film keeps mixing the action scenes up. You are not being hit with the same thing over and over again. It was amusing to watch a brawl and see local stunties get beaten up by Reacher. I will say that, after doing some research into this film and looking at the different classifications, there are different cuts of the film floating around. So the intensity of the film might change depending on where you see it. The action is not as good as films where there is a bit more of a budget to make the style land, but when Alan Ritchson ramps up, you know it will be good. Also, a bonus mark for excellent use of and environmental set piece that you see and hope that they will use and are not disappointed.    

Ticking Clock

When looking at films working in the same space as Runner, there is usually either a force propelling them forward, or a ticking clock drawing them in. Here, we get both. The bikies are chasing the pair down for the liver, but then there also is the little girl at the end who needs the liver while the viability of the organ still works. That makes a decent framework for the pull/push of the narrative as they careen down towards the coast. There is also enough of a handwave as to why there is not just a police cordon around the liver. I will say that there is a bunch of back-and-forth at the hospital that could have been cut back because it gets a touch sanctimonious, but then we get more Kate Box, so I can’t complain that much.

Geographical Confusion

Watching this as a local was a very interesting experience, because there clearly was some work put into making the rough geographical surroundings of the film feel right. When you hear dialogue like ‘why are you on the Clem7, you should be on the M1’ you know that they at least consulted someone from Brisbane at some point. But while I can forgive a title card of Brisbane, Queensland in front of a location that was clearly filmed on the Gold Coast, I did have to take my geography hat off when someone took the Clem7 from the airport towards the Gold Coast and then popped out on the north side of the river for some reason. Honey, you take the Clem7 so you don’t have to go through Brisbane, but hey, at least our sign got a good look-in. There is a lot of cutting back between the Gold Coast and Brisbane in an order that makes no sense, and then Tamborine comes out of nowhere. I think this is going to be just a me problem, and I finally get what it is like to be from Rome and see that bomb haphazardly crash by every famous landmark on the way to its location.       

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Runner? I believe that the tone is going to be the big dealbreaker for you. You will either be in for the ride or bounce off it so hard. I did have a fun time here watching Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson riff off each other, though a part of that might have been the fun of spotting where they filmed everything.  

Have you watched Runner? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Runner, we would recommend The Wrecking Crew to you because it is also working in the same tonal space with regards to both the action and the quips.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Runner
Directed by – Scott Waugh
Written by – Miles Hubley & Tommy White
Music by – Charlie Nguyen Kim
Cinematography by – Lorenzo Senatore
Edited by –
Production/Distribution Companies – A Higher Standard, Broken Road Productions, Industry Entertainment, Nickel City Pictures, 2521 Entertainment, Angel Studios, & VVS Films
Starring – Alan Ritchson, Owen Wilson, Rodrigo Santoro, Leila George, Kate Box, Peta Sergeant, Geraldine Hakewill, Goran D. Kleut, Scarlett Crabtree, & Cecilia Toussaint
With – Salomé Chandler, Jacob Hohua, Beth Waugh, Tommy Archer, & Deirdree Wallace
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: 14A; Germany: 16; United Kingdom: 15; United States: PG-13