Running Scared is a 2006 American crime thriller film, written and directed by Wayne Kramer, and starring Paul Walker, Cameron Bright, and Vera Farmiga. It was released in the United States on February 24, 2006.
Oleg decides to take one of the guns after Joey leaves and goes home that night to his mother Mila (Ivana Miličević) and abusive stepfather, Anzor Yugorsky (Karel Roden), the outcast nephew of Russian mob boss, Ivan Yugorsky (John Noble). Oleg shoots Anzor after he becomes belligerent with him and his mother. After hearing the gunshot, Joey arrives to find Anzor wounded and Oleg gone. Anzor describes the gun to Joey, making him realize Oleg has one of the murder weapons; Joey realizes he has to find Oleg and the gun before the police do.
Throughout the night, Oleg runs into many unsavory people, including a homeless man, a drug dealer, and an abusive pimp named Lester (David Warshofsky) and his prostitute, Divina (Idalis DeLeon). After saving Divina from Lester, she decides to help Oleg, which is how he winds up at the same diner that Joey and Nicky are at. Joey is there to talk to Frankie Perello (Arthur J. Nascarella), the Italian mob boss, about Oleg and to tell him that the gun Oleg used wasn't from the shootout. Nicky and Oleg stash the gun in the diner bathroom and when Oleg tries to flee, he is caught by the police and sent back into his stepfather's custody.
When Anzor takes Oleg out for ice cream to get him to tell him where the gun is, Oleg eventually winds up in the apartment with two other children of a seemingly normal married couple, Dez (Bruce Altman) and Edele (Elizabeth Mitchell), who turn out to be a pair of sadistic child molesting serial killers. Oleg fakes an upset stomach and, on the way to the bathroom, finds Edele's purse by the door, takes her cell phone and calls Teresa. She prompts him to find anything with the apartment's address, and promises to come get him as Dez and Edele try and force their way into the bathroom.
When Teresa arrives, she threatens her way inside and searches the whole apartment, but sees no sign of Oleg. When she goes to leave, she realizes something is off. She threatens Dez who eventually indicates a closet in the playroom; she finds Oleg tied up with a plastic bag on his head. After Teresa saves Oleg by doing CPR, she holds the couple at gunpoint and tells Oleg to get the other kids and leave. Dez attempts to bribe Teresa with $100,000 in diamonds if she takes only Oleg with her. Teresa ignores him and finds children costumes, plastic body bags, children snuff films and surgical instruments in the playroom closet. Teresa uses the couple's phone to call the police. She reports gunshots, hangs up, then murders them both.
Throughout all this, Joey has been tracking down the missing gun, and is about to finally get it back but is foiled by the presence of Tommy, who takes him and Oleg to a hockey rink to meet Frankie and Ivan. Ivan kills Anzor when he refuses to kill Oleg, and Joey, about to be killed himself, says in desperation that the gun is Tommy's. Tommy then attempts to kill him, but is instead killed by a Russian mobster when another shootout ensues. Frankie shoots Ivan during the process and goes to kill Joey, but Joey reveals his FBI cover. Oleg helps distract Frankie so Joey can disarm him, who then kills Frankie. Joey and Oleg leave the hockey rink in time to see the FBI storm the building.
Joey and Oleg run into Lester, the new owner of the gun, and a struggle between Joey and Lester develops. It ends with Lester shooting Joey with the gun, but not before Joey stabs Lester in the neck with his own knife. Joey and Oleg run and drive back to Joey's house. Back at Oleg's house, Mila thinks her son is dead and kills herself by blowing up the meth lab in their backyard. The explosion alerts Teresa and Nicky, who go to investigate. They see Joey crash the car after losing consciousness. Days later, a funeral is held for Joey with Teresa, Nicky, and Oleg in attendance; Oleg has been adopted into the family. They drive out to a small farm house, where Joey's car is parked in the driveway. Teresa sits on the bumper, and Joey emerges from under the car. He is alive and well, having faked his own death for his protection as an undercover officer.
CastPaul Walker as Joey Gazelle
Cameron Bright as Oleg Yugorsky
Vera Farmiga as Teresa Gazelle
Chazz Palminteri as Detective Rydell
Karel Roden as Anzor Yugorsky
Johnny Messner as Tommy "Tombs" Perello
Ivana Miličević as Mila Yugorsky
Alex Neuberger as Nicky Gazelle
Michael Cudlitz as Sal "Gummy Bear" Franzone
Bruce Altman as Dez Hansel
Elizabeth Mitchell as Edele Hansel
Arthur J. Nascarella as Frankie Perello
John Noble as Ivan Yugorsky
Idalis DeLeon as Divina
David Warshofsky as Lester the Pimp
Jim Tooey as Tony
Thomas Rosales, Jr. as Julio
Glenn Wrage as Special Agent in Charge
Reception
Box office
Running Scared opened with $3,381,974 on 1,611 screens (for a $2,099 per theater average). It went on to make a total of $9.4 million worldwide, failing to bring back its modest budget of only $15 million.
Critical responseThe film received mixed reviews from film critics. It currently holds a 40% "rotten" rating on film review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, where the general consensus states: "This film runs with frenetic energy punctuated by gratuitous violence but sorely lacks in plot, character development and stylistic flair." The film holds an average of 41 out of 100, based on 30 reviews, on film review site Metacritic.
Justin Chang of Variety described Whitaker's cinematography, which primarily used Steadicam and crane shots, as "[dazzling] with a desaturated palette that nevertheless has a rich, grimy luster." He also noted the film had an odd plot, which was disarming given it was shot in Prague rather than somewhere that looks closer to New Jersey. Sam Wigley ofSight and Sound said the vicious gangland depicted in the film resembles an "iniquitous fairytale realm," although it is dark, and "passes in a vertiginous blur of comic-book hyper-reality."
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