Run

Directed by Geoff Burrowes, Run follows law student Charlie Farrow (Patrick Dempsey) as he’s pursued by various figures after inadvertently causing the death of a connected mobster (A.C. Peterson’s Denny Halloran). It’s a surefire premise that’s employed to partially watchable yet mostly disappointing effect by Burrowes, as the filmmaker, working from a script by Dennis Shryack and Michael Blodgett, delivers a hit-and-miss thriller that’s rarely, if ever, as engrossing or tense as its subject matter might’ve indicated – with the lackluster atmosphere compounded by Dempsey’s oddly laid-back turn as the central character. (Charlie’s perpetually lighthearted demeanor remains a seriously bizarre (and incongruous) choice, particularly given that the figure is being chased by dirty cops and violent criminals.) And while the picture admittedly does boast a handful of compelling set-pieces, including (and especially) a chase sequence set within a busy shopping mall, Run builds towards an anticlimactic (and far-from-exciting) third act that ensures the whole thing ends on a thoroughly underwhelming note (despite an admittedly superb death for the central villain) – thus cementing the movie’s place as a justifiably forgotten relic of the early ’90s.

** out of ****