Run Lola Run (1998) / Thriller-Romance
aka Lola RenntMPAA Rated: Rated R for violence and language
Running Time: 80 min.Cast: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbet Knaup, Nina Petri, Armin Rohde, Joachim Krol
Director: Tom Tykwer
Screenplay: Tom Tykwer
Review published May 25, 2000
Manny (Bleibtreu, Das Experiment) loses $100,000 in cash which needs to be delivered to a ruthless gangster he works for. He now has only 20 minutes before meeting with the thug and knows it's certain death for him if he doesn't deliver. He calls on his girlfriend Lola (Potente, The Bourne Identity) to see if she can help him out, but it would take an extraordinary plan of action to get that much money but also get it to him in time.
Flashing a heap of style, supplanting almost all substance, Run Lola Run is still a breathtakingly engaging film that sports many moments of technical skill and brilliant ideas. Groundhog Day meets Sliding Doors meets Vertigo meets Pulp Fiction is what you might call it, but taking all of these other ideas and making it something unique is no small feat, and in this task, it succeeds quite well.
Although the cast is competent, it is writer-director Tykwer (Heaven, The Princess and the Warrior) that produced this fun and interesting film with a frenetic energy, and while wholly unrealistic, its over-the-top style never seems to strain the disbelief suspension to the point where it becomes absurd.
Run Lola Run is fast, funny, and fantastic. Highly recommended.
Qwipster's rating:
©2000 Vince Leo
