Running Scared

"John Wayne was a faggot."

No disrespect to The Duke, but it's apt, in a film that doesn't disguise its admiration of Walter Hill's classic The Warriors (replace the Baseball Furies with hockey stick-wielding goons), that such a memorable line be spoken before a gunshot sets off its roller coaster plot, much like Cyrus bellowing "Can you dig it!?" before Luther -- that sonuvabitch -- shoots him and ignites chaos.

Wayne Kramer has made a new-millenial version of The Warriors. Hoping to dodge the inevitable lightning bolt, I'll even go so far as to say that Running Scared is a better film; for while The Warriors is undoubtedly a classic, Kramer has crafted a film in the same vein, but with more character, pathos, and tension. And while the characters in both films are ostensibly fantastic archetypes jacked straight out of a graphic novel, the human beings in Running Scared grow believable, even as the plot oscillates towards utter camp.

You need to see this film fresh, without any spoilers. Trust me. I won't divulge much of the plot, save this brief synopsis:

Paul Walker (of The Fast and the Furious fame) plays Joey, a mob foot soldier who is appointed the task of hiding guns used in a shoot-out. One of those guns is stolen by a friend of Joey's son, and it's up to Joey to find the kid and get it back. If he doesn't, he's a dead man.

So begins his quest, one which is full of violence, tension (seriously, you could cut the tension in this film WITH A KNIFE), a motherfucking shitload of goddam expletives, and a pace cognate to Metallica's Master Of Puppets on PCP.

It is the character moments, however, that save the film from being a mere adrenalin rush, and propel it towards true cinematic greatness. Witness the subplot of Joey's wife tracking down Oleg (the kid who stole the gun), perhaps the film's defining moment. Seriously, as big a fan I am of Park Chan-Wook, the climax of Lady Vengeance doesn't hold a candle next to that chapter. Or witness Karel Roden -- whose Terrence Howard-style call up from the farm league should have occurred long ago -- as Oleg's father, a guy whom you despise until...

But, see, I'm already delving too deep. Just watch the film and get back to me. It's available on DVD in Korea, and -- lo and behold -- there are scenes containing vaginas. Never thought I'd live to see the day.

A few comments before I call it a night:

1) Remember when everyone thought Mark Wahlberg (aka Marky Mark) was a joke, and then he made Boogie Nights? I'm not saying Paul Walker's acting job here is of the Dirk Diggler echelon, but it certainly proves he's got chops. Word to Keanu.

2) Tell me the film's main theme doesn't sound like a hybrid of the Scarface and The Godfather themes. Then tell me again, only this time not lying.

3) Is the kid who plays Joey's son the same kid from Unbreakable, or is he the mute kid from Mystic River? Or is he the younger, more talented brother of both those kids? Not since the Culkin kids have I been so convinced that Hollywood is farming child actor clones.

Hey, now there's a nifty script idea! (Copyright 2006, Tiberious aka Spork Co.)

4) You don't watch a movie like Running Scared, you ride it. Ride it 'til the wheels fall off. Wheeeeee!!!

(So went my initial opening for this review. I wish I were joking.)

5) Not only does Running Scared rival -- and possibly best -- The Warriors, it also, without even trying, renders Road To Perdition unnecessary.

4 out of 4 *_*