Amazon Director:
"So I got an idea for a film.
Amazon Boss:
"I'm listening"
Amazon Director:
"Gal Gadot, in skin tight Lycra, running through London for 85 minutes, we'll call it The Runner"A
Amazon Boss:
"Genius, how much money do you need?"
True story, probably.
Review by Jon Donnis
The Runner wastes very little time getting started. Maia Marten is introduced as a successful London prosecutor and devoted mother, but her carefully controlled life is shattered when she receives a phone call telling her that her diabetic son Noah has been kidnapped. The instructions are brutally simple. Keep running, follow the orders and tell nobody. If she stops, her son dies.
From there, The Runner settles into an unusual rhythm. Rather than building towards a conventional series of action set pieces, director Kevin Macdonald places Gal Gadot's Maia in what is essentially a race against the clock, with the story playing out almost in real time. It is an intriguing approach, and at its best the film creates a genuine sense of urgency as Maia tears through London trying to save her son while simultaneously attempting to work out who is behind the entire ordeal.
Visually, The Runner is one of the film's strongest elements. Macdonald's direction gives Maia's journey a physicality that makes the audience feel as though they are being dragged through the streets alongside her. The camera keeps the action immediate, while the constantly changing locations help prevent the film from becoming visually monotonous. Maia moves through roads, public transport, underground tunnels, bridges and buildings, and the city becomes as much a part of the chase as the characters themselves.
The decision to make Maia spend so much of the film running is also surprisingly effective initially. There is something inherently stressful about watching a character desperately trying to reach a destination while knowing that every second could mean the difference between life and death. The ticking-clock element gives even the quieter moments a degree of tension.
The psychological side of the story is another positive. The Caller is not simply giving Maia physical obstacles to overcome. He knows intimate details about her life and uses them to psychologically dismantle her while she is already under enormous pressure. The revelations concerning Maia's family and the death of her father add another layer to what initially appears to be a straightforward kidnapping thriller.
Gal Gadot is also well cast in the central role. She gives Maia enough determination and vulnerability to make the character believable as a mother pushed into increasingly desperate circumstances. Gadot is convincing when Maia is frightened, exhausted and under pressure, while she also sells the physical demands of the role. There is no denying that she looks the part while sprinting through London.
Damian Lewis, meanwhile, gets an interesting role as the mysterious Caller. Much of his performance is delivered through his voice rather than physical presence, which gives the character an appropriately detached quality. His knowledge of Maia's life makes his phone calls increasingly uncomfortable, although the film could arguably have done more with the character. Leaving his face reveal to the end seems silly, when we all know it is Damian Lewis, he has a recognisable voice, and it didn't really make much of a difference.
The eventual resolution is satisfying. The film does not simply throw a last-minute twist at the audience and leave everything hanging. It also answers some of the questions raised throughout the film and gives the story a reasonably neat conclusion.
There is also a nice final touch when Maia receives another mysterious call in the car and simply throws her phone away rather than answering it. After everything she has endured, it is an appropriately cynical little moment.
Unfortunately, The Runner is also a film where the limitations of the premise become increasingly apparent.
The biggest problem is that there simply is not enough substance here to justify the feature-length treatment. The basic concept is strong. A mother is forced to run across London while a mysterious caller threatens to kill her son. That is a perfectly workable thriller premise. But once the initial novelty wears off, the film begins to feel as though it is stretching a relatively thin idea across its running time.
The film is around 80 minutes, which is certainly not excessive, and the brisk pace means it never becomes a complete slog. In fact, the short runtime probably helps it considerably. Even so, there were moments when I found myself thinking that The Runner might actually have been more effective at around an hour. Some sequences feel like they exist primarily to get Maia from one location to the next rather than because they are particularly important to the story.
That leads to another issue. For something sold as a pulse-pounding action thriller, there simply is not enough action. There is plenty of movement, but running is not the same thing as action. Gadot spends a considerable amount of the film sprinting from one place to another, and while she certainly looks impressive doing it, eventually you start wanting something more substantial to happen.
There are moments that attempt to break this up, including the car accident, the Underground chase and Maia's escape from the police, but I wanted more. Given Gadot's action background, The Runner feels like it is leaving a considerable amount of potential on the table. Maia could have been tougher, more resourceful and more physically capable. Instead, the film often makes her feel like an ordinary woman who happens to be exceptionally good at running.
The portrayal of London is another problem, and one that becomes difficult to ignore.
The film's version of London feels strangely disconnected from the real city. At one point Maia's phone is stolen on the train by two English White men, and this was probably the single least convincing moment in the entire film. More broadly, London appears remarkably white throughout the story, despite Maia travelling through parts of the capital where that simply would not reflect the city most people actually encounter.
This gives the film the feeling of a Hollywood interpretation of London rather than London itself. The locations may be recognisable, but the people and atmosphere surrounding them often do not feel authentic. Anyone familiar with the route Maia takes would likely notice the disconnect.
There is also an uncomfortable question hanging over the entire production. Watching Gal Gadot run around London for 80 minutes, it is difficult not to wonder whether the film was developed around having Gadot first and the story second. The premise is good enough to stand on its own, but there are moments when it feels as though the filmmakers have found an attractive action star and then built a relatively simple thriller around her.
That is not necessarily a criticism of Gadot herself. In fact, she is one of the reasons the film works as well as it does. She gives Maia enough emotional credibility to keep the audience invested, and her presence makes the film considerably more watchable. The problem is that the script does not always give her enough interesting material to work with.
Ultimately, The Runner is a difficult film to score.
I happily sat through the whole thing, and importantly, I was never tempted to constantly check my phone. That is worth something. The film held my attention, maintained a decent sense of urgency and delivered an ending that brought the various strands together.
But I cannot ignore the fact that it is relatively weak on substance. Some scenes feel like filler, the action is lighter than you might expect, and the central concept is stretched close to its limits. The London setting also feels artificial in places, which undermines what should have been one of the film's biggest advantages.
There is definitely a good thriller hiding inside The Runner. The real-time structure works, the visual presentation is strong, Gal Gadot delivers a solid and believable performance, and the conclusion is satisfying. I simply wanted more from it. More action, more depth, a tougher Maia and a story substantial enough to justify being a feature film.
The Runner is entertaining enough to keep you watching, but it never quite becomes the relentless, bruising thriller its premise promises.
I score The Runner a very generous 7 out of 10. Mainly because it kept my attention, which takes a lot these days, but maybe that was more to do with Gadot running in skin tight Lycra as opposed to a captivating story.
Out Now on Prime Video
