The 1970s was a decade that was almost dominated by gritty crime thrillers that were hard-hitting and relentless. Some of the seminal ones included Dirty Harry, Death Wish, Taxi Driver, The French Connection, Serpico, and The Godfather. There were plenty of gritty crime movies in the 80s and 90s, but by the 2000s, things had changed. Instead of the hard-R gritty crime and action movies, we were getting watered-down and over-stylized PG-13 thrillers. This change in genre conventions rather upset writer/director Wayne Kramer. Kramer earlier got some attention with 2003’s The Cooler, which was a hit with critics despite underperforming financially. It went on to win and be nominated for various awards, including an Oscar nomination for Alec Baldwin. With this critical reception, Kramer decided to follow it up with a throwback to the gritty crime movies he loved. This led to the vastly underrated 2006 thriller, Running Scared.
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After a drug bust gone wrong, low level mobster Johnny Gazelle (Paul Walker) is tasked with disposing of a gun. This particular gun, a small snubnosed revolver was used during the drug bust to kill a dirty cop. Johnny stashes the gun in his basement, unaware of his son (Alex Neuberger) and his friend Oleg (Cameron Bright) watching. Oleg ends up stealing the gun and uses it to try and kill his abusive stepfather Anzor Yugorsky (Karel Roden). After hearing the gunshots, Johnny goes to investigate and, upon realizing what gun was used, runs out to find it. It’s a race against time as Oleg is running from the Russian mafia and crooked cop Detective Rydell (Chazz Palminteri). Along the way, Johnny’s wife Teresa (Vera Farmiga) also gets involved as she tries to save Oleg. Things continue spiraling out of control as we go further down the rabbit hole.
As mentioned before, Kramer wanted this to be more in the style of gritty 70s crime thrillers, and he succeeded. This film perfectly captures the grit and grime of many of those crime thrillers from the past. There’s excessive violence, nudity, swearing, and some pretty dark and disturbing moments throughout that deal with fairly dark themes. In addition, the cast here is phenomenal, particularly Paul Walker, Vera Farmiga, Chazz Palminteri, and Cameron Bright. At the time, Walker was mostly known for The Fast and The Furious movies, and this really shows his range. He’s constantly on edge and full of energy that you can tell he’s dedicated to this role. Vera Farmiga, who was relatively unknown here, is terrific in the film, especially when it becomes about her. Chazz Palminteri is fantastic as always, and Cameron Bright, especially for a child actor, also does a great job.
If there are any problems I have with the film, the main one is with the structure. While there is a somewhat straightforward narrative, some parts feel like small vignettes that go from one to another. Also, there are some characters who are introduced but then just leave never to be seen again. At times, the movie feels a bit scatterbrained, especially with how the editing is done. Not to say that the editing here is poor, far from it, but it can seem all over the place. Issues aside, I still think this is a terrifically underrated crime thriller that deserves more attention. Especially with Paul Walker’s unfortunate death, this really showcases how much talent he had as an actor. While the movie wasn’t a huge financial hit, it was well-received by critics, and it’s easy to see why. Running Scared is a great hidden gem that’s worth watching.
