Running with the Devil

I'm a simple guy, I see Nicolas Cage - I watch the movie. Furthermore, he's joined by Laurence Fishburne, Barry Pepper, Clifton Colins Jr. and some other previously seen & heard names. To be honest, it's easy to get into these thrillers, because I already know what to expect, all it takes is 2 minutes long look at the cast, director, plot and ...the poster.

"Running with the Devil" is not a great movie, but it's hard not to enjoy it. Lets get the bad qualities off the table first. Despite taking place in over 15 different locations & across two continents, story lacks any narrative inspiration, rhytm or complexety. It doesn't even make sense at some points. The structure is choppy, the climax is weak & there's not nearly enough good old fashioned action. However, we have come here for the cast. It's indeed an enjoyable romp of many characters - Laurence Fishburne snorting coke and being extremely horny, Adam Goldberg being a bit*h, Nicolas Cage doing ...his thing, and so on and so forth. Seriously though, while the script is very, very weak and directing uninspiring, "Running with the Devil" is kept afloat with a steady pacing dragged on by the amount of characters and locations, with the awesome cast doing their thing & with a pretty fine cinematography and (sometimes questionable) editing.

You will be running with the devil because Cage & Fishburne runs with it & later You're going to be running for another movie. I'm sure that I can positively recommend this flick to anyone who's a fan of the cast and/or a fan of this particular & familiar low budget average thriller niche. The key is knowing what you'll get. I enjoyed this 5/10 quite a lot.

This is one of those movies I passed by many times on Netflix because I had feeling it would suck, well it did and should have stuck with my gut. The story is convoluted and at the beginning you will try to figure out all the players and the plot. There's no feeling with anything that takes place, just a brunch of random events connected, but not enough to make you care for anyone. The Fishburne intimate scenes were so off putting and not even pleasing to the eye. Feel like I'm blind now like how Al Bundy use to feel when he'd get any glimpse of Marcy next door.

Running With The Devil: Nicolas Cage has every opportunity and reason to chew up the scenery in this film but he resists the the temptation. A take of drug running, following the trail from a remote farm in Colombia via mexico and the US to Canada. Cage is sent by his boss to find out who is hijacking shipments and also to discover who is cutting the coke with dangerous additives. Laurence Fishburne is a middleman with Leslie Bibb as a DEA agent with a personal score to settle. Extreme violence, double-crosses, nobody ever quite who they seem to be and a few plot surprises. Nothing particularly original but certainly a watchable thriller. Directed and written by Jason Cabell. 6/10. On Netflix.

This is far better than you might expect from an under-the-radar Nicolas Cage film. The dialogue is very good and delivered honestly by a very competent cast. The story is believable (except for the bit about flying and skydiving, where they could have used a consultant). The editing made it concise and effective. There is a raw, unadorned feeling to the whole production. The arc finished the tale off in a very satisfying way without giving me time to check my watch. This is a successful film and one to be proud of. And, it shows that with good quality material, Cage is a very likable, convincing actor. I'm happy to see him in a film like this, for a change.

Just kidding.

Newbie (only his second film) writer and director Jason Cabell is a former Navy Seal and inspired the story from true events. He did a decent job behind the camera and in directing his cast, but his writing certainly needed some tweaking. Some scenes were too long and others needed more information (e.g the dinner plate and it's people), so there were obvious plot and technical issues with his screenplay.

"Running with the Devil" is fascinating when dealing only with procedure, with Cabell capturing the machine of trafficking and its problematic participants, with a few unable to refuse an opportunity to sample the goods, either to satisfy themselves or impress others. Cabell doesn't craft a nail-biter, but there's underworld awareness here that gives the feature something different to do.

Double-crosses and hasty decisions return in the final act of "Running with the Devil," which becomes more formulaic as Cabell tries to figure out a way to tie up multiple subplots, with special concentration on The Man, who can't dig his way out of trouble, and The Agent in Charge, who understands the futility of enforcement, but can't quite give up the hunt. Cabell delivers some tepid turns of plot, though he does have a cast capable of making thin screenwriting come alive (Fishburne is having his fun here, and Bibb does well in dogged pursuit mode, and Cage is very fitting and convincing in his character), helping the viewing experience to a certain degree. No one will mistake "Running with the Devil" for a documentary of the "do's and don'ts" of running your own cocaine business, or on the global crisis, but Cabell doesn't completely commit to dramatic exaggeration, keeping observation alive for good stretch of the movie.

The pacing was quite good with a constant story non-stop, that the 100 min run-time breezed by quickly. The cinematography was on point, and the score decent.

It's a well deserved 8/10 from me.