Director: Jason Cabell
Writer: Jason Cabell (Screenplay)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Laurence Fishburne, Cole Hauser, Leslie Bibb, Peter Facinelli, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Clifton Curtis Jr
Plot: The CEO of an International conglomerate sends two of his most regarded executives to investigate why shipments of cocaine are being hijacked and over cut somewhere on the supply chain.
Tagline – Tastes Like Heaven, Burns Like Hell.
Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Crime 101
Story: Running with the Devil starts when the Boss (Pepper) isn’t happy with his shipment in Canada, he turns to his Cook (Cage) to follow the latest shipment from the Farmer (Collins Jr) in Columbia to its destination, The Cook follows the shipment, while in America the Man (Fishburne) finds his addiction to cocaine ruining his relationship with his daughter and putting the Agent in Charge (Bibb) on his case.
Can the Cook get the shipment to the location before the Agent gets to close the case that has take a personal turn for her.
Thoughts on Running with the Devil
Characters – None of the characters in this film are known by their real names, just how they are part of the journey of the drugs, with have the Cook who is being sent to track the shipment to see where they are losing it and putting an end to the problem. The Agent in Charge is trying to stop the movement of the drug, which see her tracking down the people involved after it got personal. The Man is one of the cogs in the wheel, only he has gotten himself involved with the product he is trying to sell. The Boss wants answers for what is going on within the product and why he isn’t getting everything he paid for.
Performances – Nicolas Cage brings a calmer performance which isn’t what we are used to seeing recently, it is a basic role for him, one that nearly anyone could have played, Laurence Fishburne brings us a performance you wouldn’t expect from him, though it does seem very strange. By having such a big cast, we do seem to waste the full talents of Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg and Cole Hauser, while Leslie Bibb being the shining light of the performances.
Story – The story here follows the development of a drug shipment as it gets taken to from Columbia to its destination with one of the higher ups watching over it to learn where the product is getting taken from. The highlight of the story is seeing how the value of the product increases the nearer it gets to America, showing us how each person passing on the product is happy with what they get for the sell of their part of the movement. When we look at other parts of the story, we get left wondering about how well this does usually work, just what the Cook really does with his role in the system, as we don’t see him making any drugs and for some crazy scenes with The Man which feels slightly out of the story. We just don’t get sucked into the levels we could be in a crime thriller.
Crime – The crime side of the film does take us into the world that these characters operate in when it comes to getting the drugs around the country.
Settings – The film shows us the different locations that involves the transfer of the drugs, it starts small before getting into the business worlds.
Scene of the Movie – The Farmer’s journey.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Fishburne is hard to watch in certain scenes.
Final Thoughts – This is a crime thriller that is showing how the drug shipment happens and how the people involved will do anything to stop losing money.
Overall: Simple Crime Thriller.
