Running Time

Nicely made black and white movie with some very nice acting.

Carl (Bruce Campbell), once a popular highschool student gets released from prison after serving 5 years for a heist gone bad. Outside, his friend and partner Patrick awaits his release so they can go rob a bank, but when he meets the girl he left behind in highschool 15 years ago he stands with a difficult choice of having to choose the money or her.

The movie was just over an hour and since it seemed very live we get to see all the actors really putting in a great effort to make this movie good.

It's an idea with the potential to go wrong, but Hitchcock made it work with Rope, and now Josh Becker has done the same with Running Time; a film with the word 'cult' written all over it! The fact that this film is shot in black and white makes it stand out somewhat from the crowd of nineties films, but it's the way that it's filmed that is Running Time's claim to fame. Becker shoots the film in one continuous shot that follows around lead character Carl through one day. This idea worked brilliantly for Hitchcock, but I was worried that it might not work so well for a movie about a heist - but it really couldn't have worked better! As mentioned, the plot follows Carl Metushka - a man newly released from prison. He meets up with his buddy, and it soon becomes apparent that Carl hasn't decided to stay away from the life of crime. No, he and his friend have a heist planned and we watch as they pick up a couple of people needed for the heist, and proceed to do the actual robbery...but you can't expect a plan like this to go off without a hitch.

The fact that Running Time is filmed in one continuous shot means that it's very easy to get into. This is complimented by the running time, which is extremely short at just sixty five minutes, and means that the film really doesn't have time to get boring. Becker keeps things interesting with a constant flow of action, and some rather amusing dialogue, which ensures that the film constantly makes for fun viewing. One of my major reasons for seeing this film was because of the presence of B-movie maestro Bruce Campbell. Campbell has a lot of charisma, and this shines through excellently in this film. Campbell is a very handsome man, and Becker makes good use of that fact with his role here. The rest of the cast are secondary to Campbell, but good use is made of all of them, and they all give realistic performances. The film is a little preposterous as certain things, the ending especially, are a little silly -but it really doesn't matter as Josh Becker's experiment is a huge success and overall, I can't not recommend that everyone takes the time to track Running Time down!

This is an amazing movie. I popped the DVD into my player expecting a typical Bruce Campbell b-movie, but "Running Time" turned out to be much more than that. It succeeds on every level. Bruce Campbell shines in the leading role. I just love this man. This has got to be one of his best movies, right up there with the "Evil Dead" trilogy and "Bubba Ho-Tep". Actually, the whole cast is great. I especially fell for Anita Barone who I'd like to see in a lot more movies in the future. I won't spoil it for you, but watch out for her first meeting with Bruce Campbell's character in the movie. It's hilarious.

"Running Time" is shot in beautiful black and white, which gives the movie a film noir feeling. The script is written very cleverly with some witty dialog and tight pacing. From the beginning we are drawn into the story. The old real time formula works here for a change, although the concept does sometimes lead to a few lengths here and there. Still, the movie is far from ever getting boring and at 70 minutes running time "Running Time" (haha) is maybe even a bit too short. Doesn't matter. For me this one is an overlooked sleeper. If you get a chance, watch it!

It seems obvious to me that the creators of this film realized early on that they were working with script that is cliche, predictable and wholly uninteresting. So, instead of trying to make the story itself interesting, they decided to shoot it in what they must have believed to be an interesting way. Long takes, few cuts, real time, real mess.

These sort of films may be attention grabbing from an experimental veiwpoint, but don't offer much in the way of good storytelling. Movies are traditionally cut and edited the way they are for a very good reason...it works. While some may consider this style of filmmaking challenging and artistic, I think lazy is more on point: strap a steadicam operator with a rig, have him run around following the action for an ungodly amount of time and it only takes you two days to edit, wow!

The negative effects of shooting a film in such a way far outweigh the possible benefits. Sickening camera shifts (think Blair Witch), stagnant camera angles, and uneven acting performances are all inevitable results. Plus, it seems to me that the value of such extended takes come as a result of their scarcity. P.T. Anderson understands this, and while he almost always incorporates a long take or two in his films, they serve as juxtapose the more traditional shooting style and, are therefore interesting.

While "Running Time" may be a fascinating filmmaking exercise, this bizarre and ineffective shooting style, when combined with a poorly written script make this movie practically unwatchable and certainly unenjoyable. It appears as if the creator of this film was making it solely for himself and not for a viewing audience, which is fine, but these sort of pieces are better suited for film school projects than feature film releases.

Recently released convict Bruce Campbell decides to pull a daring heist with a small group of losers. Their objective is to steal money that is used by the prison for laundry services. Campbell, who learned of this while working the laundry room, is the would-be mastermind of the poorly planned job. Also along for the ride is an old high school love (Anita Barone) that Campbell may still have deep feelings for. "Running Time" was supposedly shot in one continuous take. I really do not believe this could have been made that way looking at the various locations throughout the Los Angeles area that were used. With that said, "Running Time" starts off very well but then just kind of drags its feet as the second half progresses. Campbell, arguably doing the best work of his career, steals the show and Barone's late appearance adds an interesting wrinkle that probably was not needed. Like the film itself, Campbell and Barone look great in this black-and-white product. Ultimately though the substance is lacking and "Running Time" likely would have been better as a short film than a cinematic feature. Highly interesting to an extent, but still not quite a touchdown. 2.5 out of 5 stars.