Runner Runner

​"Runner Runner"

Watched English film "Runner Runner". 

This film is directed by Brad Furman. Produced by Leonardo Dicaprio and others. Written by Brian Koppleman, David Levien. Cinematography by Mauro Fiore. Music by Christophe Blake. The film stars Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Jemma Arterton, Anthony Mckie. This film was released in 2013. It runs for just over 1 hour 33 min. I watched in on Amazon Prime on 5th Feb 2022.

Justin works as an associate for gambling website while doing his PG at Princeton. He discovers that he is cheated by gambling website, so he travels to Costa Rica to meet the website's owner (Ben). He becomes his employee. FBI tries to recruit him. Jemma (Ben's girlfriend) tries to come close to Justin. 

Ben Affleck plays the billionaire. He looks good and acts well. Justin plays the student. His ascent in Ben's organization is perplexing. His acting is decent. Jemma plays Ben's girlfriend and Justin's love interest. Why she does what she does remains a question. Other characters are immaterial. 

Thre plot had potential. Alas, writers and director do not capitalize it. The handling is superficial. Things are too easy. Despite having the big names, the potential is not realized.

This movie recouped just over double its production cost at box office. So it can be called a decent commercial success.

Positives: Ben

Negatives: Unheralded potential. 

Give it a miss.