Hank (Alan Ritchson), an ex-soldier now working as a courier, accepts the job of delivering a medical device containing a new healthy lung to a young cancer patient, Ellie (Scarlett Crabtree), at a hospital by a specific time or the lung won't be able to save her life. Ben (Owen Wilson), an organ courier, tags along with him and, soon enough, Damien (Damian Lewis), the head of a local cartel, hunts them down for the lung in Runner. Oh, and Hank has an ex-wife, Monica (Geraldine Hakewill), and grieves the death of his daughter, Isabelle. Director Scott Waugh and co-writers Miles Hubley and Tommy White have made a mildly engaging, but mostly unfunny, uninspired and forgettable action comedy that's low on laughs, thrills and surprises. Don't bother to think too much about the plot because plausibility and logic get thrown out of the window early on, which would've been fine if there were more imagination to compensate for that. The underdeveloped subplots involving Hank and his ex-wife and his memories of his late daughter feel like lazy ways to pad out the plot and to make it seem more complex and deep when it's really not.

      Jonathan Rhys Myers once told me at a press conference for From Paris With Love when asked for the basic elements that turn an action thriller into a classic, " I think it’s chemistry. I think what separates an action movie from a classic movie is the chemistry between the actors doing it and if they’re liking each other and the story they’re working on. Why does Lethal Weapon work? Because Danny Glover and Mel Gibson work with each other and you can see the energy. They play off each other very well, so you’ll get some partnerships in life that will just mean more. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid---if that had been Robert Redford and Warren Beatty, would it have been the same movie? Who knows? But it’s their energy that carries it. If you can get that one little moment where two people understand and they share a joke on screen or share a nice emotional moment, that makes the movie. That makes a classic action movie to me. However, I may be wrong." Well, he's not wrong, as it turns out. Unfortunately, Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson have only ephemeral moments of much-needed lively banter in Runner, and barely any palpable chemistry.

      Luc Besson once told me regarding classic action thrillers, "It’s also the amount of risk that you can take in the story. Sometimes, you know, if you say, “Okay, you know what, let’s shoot the girl at the table.” And most of the people will say, 'No, no, no. You can’t do that.' 'Fuck yeah I can, I just did.' You also have to take some risk in the directing, in the script, when you talk about the movement. When you say, 'checkmate motherfucker,' you take the risk." If Runner were to take more risks and were more lean, bonkers, witty and irreverent, it would've been a pleasantly diverting, wildly entertaining slice of mindless fun like Rush Hour, Lethal Weapon, 48 Hours or Shanghai Noon instead of settling for mediocrity. The action sequences are decent, but not a single set piece manages to stand out as the plot merely goes through the motions with the dull screenplay. At a running time of 1 hour and 37 minutes, Runner opens nationwide via Angel Studios.

 

       Albert (Damien Bonnard) seeks revenge against the members of an organization called The Circle responsible for murdering his eight-year-old daughter in Serpent's Path. Sayoko (Ko Shibasaki), a psychiatrist, helps him to kidnap them and to hold them hostage while torturing them for more information. Mathieu Amalric plays Laval, an accountant at a company associated with The Circle. Writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa and co-writer Aurélien Ferenczi have made a taut, intelligent and gripping crime thriller with shades of Fincher. None of the characters come across as likable, although Sayoko seems somewhat more ruthless than Albert albeit not by much. He has a clear motivation for kidnapping Laval and the other men that he holds responsible for his daughter's death.  

       To be fair, it would be to watch the film cold without knowing beforehand what happens after Albert and Sayoko tie their victims against a wall inside an abandoned, secluded building. The plot becomes increasingly complex without being convoluted which means that Kurosawa and Ferenczi have a great command of exposition. The audience doesn't know more than what Albert knows, so they're surprised when he's surprised. Although it's quite gritty, grim and filled with twists and turns, what ultimately makes The Serpent's Path stand out is its psychological horror elements and psychological thrills because you don't know for sure whom to trust, what will happen next or what the truth is that Albert has been desperately seeking. At a running time of 1 hour and 43 minutes, Serpent's Path opens at IFC Center via Kimstim.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 1  




 

      The Uprising. Ploughman (Andrew Garfield), a farmer, leads a peasant revolt against 14-year-old King Richard II (Woody Norman) when he and his tax collectors demand taxes that are too high. Meanwhile, he's still grieving the loss of his wife and children who died of the plague during Black Death. Jamie Bell has a support role as John, a priest, and Katherine Waterston plays Joan of Kent, King Richard II's mother. Writer/director Paul Greengrass has made a gritty and intense, but vapid and monotonous war film about the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The narrative follows an unnecessary non-linear structure that makes the plot feel complex when it's actually quite simple and straightforward. Greengrass doesn't seem interested in stopping to get to know the nameless Ploughman or to delve deeper into his relationship with his beloved wife and children in the flashbacks. All of the characters seem like they're merely plot devices with barely any internal life despite that the ensemble cast try their best to breathe life into their roles. None of them manage to shine which means that their talents are wasted.

      The costume design provides some visual style and much-needed authenticity while the washed out colors compliment the film's grim tone. However, there's not nearly enough levity to counterbalance all of the grimness, so watching The Uprising feels similar to listening to a piano player bang on the same keys on a piano over and over and over. It eventually gets tiresome. There are few exciting scenes, especially during the third act, but they're ephemeral and not as rousing as they could've been with a more sensitive screenplay and better direction. Moreover, the battle sequences are poorly shot with too much nauseating shaky-cam---although, to be fair, every Paul Greengrass movie looks like it's shot during an earthquake. Perhaps he thinks that he needs to shake the camera to generate tension because he can't generate enough tension from the screenplay.  At a running time of 2 hours and 8 minutes, The Uprising opens nationwide via Focus Features.  

Number of times I checked my watch: 3 

      Who Moves America is a vital and empowering human rights documentary about the roughly 340,000 UPS workers who, with the help of their union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, threatened a strike back in 2023 in hope of negotiate their contract with UPS for better working conditions and pay. The UPS drivers have the right to complain about lack of air conditioning in their trucks despite UPS's inaccurate claims that they rarely spend time inside their trucks. Director Yael Bridge opts for a fly-on-the-wall approach sans talking-head interviews or backstories of any of the UPS workers. It's not as comprehensive nor balanced as a Frederick Wiseman doc and it also lacks scope without enraging the audience like a Michael Moore doc would've done (I'm looking at you, Roger & Me), but it's nonetheless shows, with clear-cut evidence, how solidarity, hard work, speaking up for one's rights, and persistence can lead to a positive outcome. Even if you already know the outcome because you're familiar with the strike, it's not about the outcome itself, but about the lengthy process it takes to reach that outcome.

      Not surprisingly, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters rejected a few new contracts because the needs of all of the workers were not met. One UPS workers' succinct words at the end says it all: a huge burden has been lifted from his shoulders and he can finally get a good night's rest because the workers' demands were finally met in their new 5-year contract. It would be fair game if other unions use this doc and the experiences of the UPS workers as a blueprint for future contract negotiations. Ultimately,, Who Moves America isn't just about human rights and justice, but also about democracy, above all. At a running time of 1 hour and 27 minutes, Who Moves America opens at IFC Center via 8 Above.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2