Running Red (1999)

Memorable, crazy movie

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

RUNNING RED is another straight to video action thriller from the team at PM Entertainment. This one stars the hulking and bearded Jeff Speakman as a Russian who defects to America and begins a new life, only for his past to begin catching up with him as he's tasked to assist some very shady types in a sinister job. What follows is low rent in the extreme, merrily ripping off footage such as the bus chase from RED HEAT (again!) and offering the usual gamut of brief martial arts interactions, explosions, and shootings. It's fair to say that Speakman is on autopilot here while Angie Everhart has the thankless role of his wife. It's one not of PM's best, that's for sure.

Gregori (Speakman) is one of the toughest dudes in the Russian military. Previously loyal to Mother Russia, after his brother is killed during an assault on a Spanish chemical plant, Gregori renounces it all and relocates to Sherman Oaks, California. After eleven years in the States, we see that he now has a hot wife named Katherine (Everhart), and even a precocious young daughter, Amanda (Ray) To fully complete the transformation into a U.S. citizen, he grows a beard and puts on some weight, seemingly in an attempt to strongly resemble TV's Richard Karn. He cleverly changes his name from Gregori to Greg, but even that doesn't stop his past from coming back. When Russian operatives enlist him to do "one last job" because "he's the best", "Greg" can't resist the lure of the classic clichés, and he actually wants to get revenge for his brother, now that he's offered a chance to kill his murderer, a guy named Mercier (Braverman). Also he gets involved in the political assassination game as it relates to a politician named Chambers (Miano). Will Greg be running away...or RUNNING RED? In our opinion, Running Red is the best Jeff Speakman movie. It doesn't have any of the fat, boredom, or mind-numbing stupidity of his other works. PM is the ideal place for him, and they used him perfectly. Sure, we would have preferred more Kenpo and less gun-shooting, but in the absence of the actual Kenpo he does wear an oversized shirt that reads Kenpo Gear, and the back says "Show some respect". Because it's PM, it's bright, well-lit, has a nice pace, and there are some classic blow-ups, car chases, car flips (even a double-car flip), gunfights, and well-choreographed action. It's all very professional and works well. Director Jacobs has been hit or miss for us in the past; we loved A Dangerous Place (1995), but thought Freedom Strike (1998) was lame. Running Red puts another one in the win column for Mr. Jacobs.The title could refer to the fact that Greg is running from his red past, or the running of blood, or be a subtle reference to Everhart's hair. It's also the color of his daughter's Game Boy Color. Coincidence? Part of the plot even involves Greg's wife wanting to drag him to her high school reunion because she "wants to show him off to her friends". Presumably she's going to tell them she's married to Richard Karn. But another possible title could be "Running Red Heat", because, like Rangers (2000), the bus chase from Red Heat (1988) is interpolated into the movie. If Running Red and Rangers can afford this footage, it must be going at fire sale prices. But didn't PM realize that action fans would likely recognize what they saw? Maybe they were banking on the fact that the whole outing feels a bit...familiar. But still, it's Speakman at his best.The guy who plays Mercier looks a lot like Joe Mantegna, fan-favorite Robert Miano has a small but noteworthy role (was he contractually obligated to be in every PM movie?), and instead of a drug deal gone wrong, there's an arms deal gone wrong. Instead of a wacky taxi driver, there's a wacky exterminator. The daughter is cute in the classic Sarah Dampf style (bet you didn't know there was a classic Sarah Dampf style), and she loves soda and hamburgers. She also eats a cereal called Crispy Rounds. If action heroes didn't have daughters, what would get them up in the morning? Running Red is the perfect place to start if you've never seen a Jeff Speakman movie. It might be all downhill from here (though his other films do have some of their own individual merits, to be fair) - but Running Red is a winner, and quite possibly the best DTV actioner of 1999.

Be careful!!!! SPOILERS HERE!!!! Don`t read this if you haven't seen the film, and you are going to see it.Well, you are warned. What I wanted to tell you about this film is that is totally impossible how it starts!!! The film starts with some action in... Spain?? We can see how some Russian "marines" have to destroy a Chemical Plant where someone is manufacturing Chemical weapons. Of course, the "marines" kill everybody, and a MIG??? destroys the factory....Well, I can't believe this!! This is totally stupid!! Spain is a member of the European Union, very civilized, very Rich (number 8 of the world), and the situation described at the film is totally impossible!I feel ofended, i can't really believe that at this days, there is still people stupid enough to direct an stupid film like this one!And, please..... no one in Spain uses that stupid "hat" worn by the soldier who speaks with the secretary. Ah, of course, the name of the secretary is Maria.... is this an obsession? Not all the Spanish girls are named Maria (in spite of the fact that, for example, I have fallen in love with a girl named Maria :P)

Spoilers herein.Cat's eye comments follow*.This is a film about a woman (played by Lisa Arturo, one of the faux lesbians from `American Pie 2') who works as a scientist in a secret plant in California developing outlawed biological weapons. She has many personal problems and has been through several marriages, murdering her last one in a fit of pique. Because her work is so unique and valuable, the authorities covered it up and placed her next door to a Russian defector (played by Jeff Speakman). That aging defector (code named Running Red) did not supply any useful intelligence to the CIA so has to `earn' his keep by looking out for his neighbor. He is having an affair with her, here noted by her stealing his `banana.' His .His daft wife has no idea of his past, his soured deal with the CIA or his affair with the neighbor, despite her hints. She is played by Angie Everhart who doesn't even know she is in a movie and believes her husband has had a job for the last ten years.The story is rather predictable. Old Soviet special ops buddies show up. They kill his lover (the woman he was supposed to protect), so he kills them. Along the way, we never know whether the resurfaced Russians are in cahoots with the CIA or not. Sometimes they seem to take control of the whole movie, for instance when the hero Greg is sent on a wild goose chase into literally another movie: a bus lures him out of `Running Red' into `Red Heat' in an attempt to fool him into thinking their purpose, one of Russian law enforcement. A bus gets hit by a train.All this oblique storytelling is symbolized by Greg's ability to shoot around corners by having bullets bounce off mirrored surfaces. This narrative is challenging and not for the simpleminded; for instance, many viewers may miss the importance of the bug exterminator.*Cat's eye comments result when nothing intelligent can be said of a film.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 4: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.