The Runner (2015) Review!!

Synopsis – In the aftermath of the 2010 BP oil spill, an idealistic but flawed politician is forced to confront his dysfunctional life after his career is destroyed in a sex scandal.

My Take – Nowadays its pretty obvious, a film starring Nicolas Cage or at least even if he is portrayed on the film’s poster as the lead, its going to be something low, cheap & lazy! As a fan of Cage, I cant even remember which was his last decent movie! Well, with this latest movie, given its serious subject matter and tone, people wondered whether the film might be one to kick-start Cage’s career if just by a little, or if only to quietly earn respect as a well executed C-Movie. It happened a while back with Joe (which I haven’t seen yet), a pretty solid drama with Cage earning his pay as an actor. Almost like a poor man’s Mud. But it worked, so who cares if it was cheap? This is not one of those instance though and it what I feared it would be. With modern Cage movies, you’re (probably) going to be bored to tears or be treated to inappropriate laughs. Surprisingly the film is quite decent & watchable mainly thanks to Cage‘s heartfelt performance. While the idea of a politician who is his own worst enemy isn’t an original setup, Director Austin Stark‘s film is embedded with a number of timely issues ripe for exploration: scandal, ambition, redemption, the state of modern politics, even the BP oil spill (a real life 2010 disaster), which provides the backdrop for the story. The story follows Colin Price (Nicholas Cage), is a Congressman from Louisiana. His father Rayne (Peter Fonda) was a politician & a beloved ex mayor of the city! Colin’s impassioned House speech decrying the economic impact of the man-made disaster suddenly makes him a man of the moment.

His longtime right-hand man and buddy Frank (Wendell Pierce) sees a Senate run opportunity. (See, that’s where the other meaning of the title comes in.) But Price has high ideals. When his wife, Deborah (Connie Nielsen), herself a powerful attorney, drags him to a meeting with an arrogant, deep-pocketed oil lobbyist (Bryan Batt), Price lets the guy know he can’t be bought. But like so many Potentially Great Men, Price has a character flaw, which, as one character puts it, albeit less delicately than this, involves his inability to keep one of his organs securely tucked in his trousers. When the press gets a hold of some elevator cam footage of him getting frisky with the African-American cheerleader coach wife of an African American now-unemployed fisherman . The subsequent scandal sends Frank and consultant Kate (Sarah Paulson) into a spin control tailspin, while Deborah can see only what she thought was the couple’s shared ambition even as she swallows her wifely humiliation. After this revelation, his life “goes south”. He is forced to resign his post, his wife files for a divorce, his father dies on the operating table, he resumes drinking, develops an intimate relationship with his soon to be divorced ex-employee Kate and his career comes to come to a screeching halt. Yes! For some the film’s plot may seem highly melodramatic, with an ironic ending. One of the reasons of that would be implausible status of his marriage with the career oriented Deborah. After all, this power hungry lawyer has “plans” for her man to “run” for a seat at the U.S. Senate. She arranges a meeting between Collin and a wealthy political backer/ Oil company executive and says to Collin: “I married you not because you were an honest man, but because I knew you were going places” and “if you resign I will divorce you”. Is this woman barking up the wrong tree? Well of course that doesn’t work! The film isn’t so much about what office Nicholas Cage‘s congressman character is running for the U.S. Senate, for the record. Rather, it’s what he’s running from that’s at the center of writer-director Austin Stark‘s New Orleans-set, New Orleans-shot political drama.

As one might surmise, that would be personal demons, which are by no means in short supply in the halls of Congress, as recent headlines have shown. For Cage‘s character, those demons are about to collide head-on with his Senatorial fantasies, and all in front of the prying eyes of the dogged national press corps. The film is the feature writing/directorial debut of Austin Stark, whose name is attached to a handful of intriguing indie films. As you see, these plot elements, and the actors, have all the makings of a truly juicy and thought-provoking political melodrama. While he manages to keep the proceedings engaging, the movie does feel like a less energetic potential-personal-redemption-through-love story, by a middle-aged variant of a Cameron Crowe romance. Despite the depiction of corporate interests, local politics and economical issues, the thrust of the movie is concerned with ethical questions that our protagonist has to face and find answers. His idealism seems to have smashed after a fierce collision with harsh realities of political arena which results in making compromises. Credit is due to Cage for transforming Pryce into a sympathetic character. Despite his foibles, Cage‘s Pryce becomes something of a noble figure. As a result, audiences will find themselves rooting for him to right his own personal ship amid the film’s melodramatic meandering.Cage has performed well which is why we keep watching this movie! You have to appreciate that rare high-minded effort from an actor who has been frantically collecting paychecks for mostly bad, often lowbrow pictures, for years. Connie Nielsen does her best as Deborah in a part written for a cold and calculating character striving for upward mobility. Sarah Paulson’s Kate comes out as a naturally vulnerable person going through a divorce and seeking some comfort with Collin. Her performance is hesitant yet real, something most viewers can identify with. On the whole, ‘The Runner‘, is a decent low budget indie drama which works most of the time as a mild entertainer with distinctive questions being answered in its 78 minutes run time. There are some unnecessary sub-plots that should have been avoided. But yet, its great to see Nicolas Cage pour out his heart and soul to give us his best performance of the last decade.