Running Scared - ACE Train Movie Review

Joey Gazelle is a low-level "mechanic" in the Mafia who hopes to rise through the ranks by doing whatever is needed. One night, a drug deal goes very wrong when police show up and try to close down the operation; shots break out and a battle ensues, with a pair of cops meeting a particularly violent fate at bad end of a gun barrel. Joey is given the gun that killed the policemen and is told to make it disappear so it can't be used as evidence; however, before he can do that, the weapon is stolen by Oleg, a friend of Joey's young son, who takes the pistol and uses it to shoot his abusive stepfather. Now that the gun is implicated in high profile crimes, it's vitally important that Joey find it as soon as possible, but his search for the firearm is complicated by the fact that Oleg's stepdad is affiliated with a rival gang of Russian mobsters, and that Rydell, a seriously corrupt police detective, is hot on Joey's trail. Joey's search for the gun takes him through the grim criminal netherworld of the city, where he must face off against nearly every sort of crook, con artist, and deviate that has ever walked the earth.

This film is action-packed and kept me interested throughout. There are several twists and turns which keep you on your toes, but the number of sub-plots gets to be too much at times. There is even an entire sequence of events that seemed completely unnecessary and could have been removed while not affecting the film at all (the disturbing scenes with the man and woman who had a thing for filming kids). Overall, it was a good movie, but it seemed like they tried a little to hard to keep up the intensity which resulted in some over-acting. It also relied on a few too many coincidences for my taste and the final big twist made the ending way too cliche.

Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Paul Walker, Cameron Bright, Chazz Palminteri

I typically watch movies on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while riding the ACE Train from Tracy to Santa Clara. The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.