source: Run

Run has been described as Fast and Furious does Kitchen Sink drama. If only it was half as interesting than that concept. Starting out with Bruce Springsteen's iconic lyrics for Born to Run. It also ends with a Springsteen song. Finnie (Mark Stanley) is a fish factory worker in his 30s in Aberdeenshire. With two teenage kids, life is passing him by. One night he borrows his drag racer son's car for a joyride. The need for speed gives him a thrill. The film has a brooding performance from Stanley. It has a strong dialect but it was not an issue for me. It just lacked a strong story. It had too much navel gazing. Springsteen sang about escaping. Here the characters realise that they have nowhere to run.

Most scenes are literally dark but street and car lights provide metaphorical shafts of brightness throughout.It gives the impression that the sea port of Fraserburgh is a uniquely insulated area however the story whilst brutally realistic in many respects is also insightful and poignant. The car race is amazingly professional with unexpected sharp-intake-of-breath-hair-raising scenes. The young local actor Scott Murray is refreshing and natural. He provides light-hearted amusement with his best line being a plaintive voice calling from upstairs, "Dad we've run out of lavvy roll." slang for toilet paper. Mark Stanley, is authentic and grasps the strong local dialect whilst effectively portraying the mundane, gruelling existenceof a fish-filleter. Graham captures the boy-racers' time honoured rendezvous at the 'Flaggy' and almost tragically refers to the only night club in town. His raw perception of small town culture is revealing with its depiction of a dead-end repetitive lifestyle which the main character, in his youth, had every intention to run from. Yet even though he can foresee his life choices being replayed by his son the film ended beautifully with an illuminating realization and ray of hope. Definitely worth watching.

I tried to watch this film on BB2 last Sunday night, but had to give up after 20 minutes or so. The reason: the dialogue was almost incomprehensible. I have no problem with the Doric dialect - my parents came from Aberdeenshire but were not from the Buchan area - but because of the actors' continual mumbling. Did the director really encourage his actors to be so incomprehensible? Even James Dean in his heyday was more understandable. Memo to Mr Graham: I don't expect actors in Scottish films to talk like RP, but if films like "Local Hero" are understandable to non Scottish audiences, the so should this one.

Finnie, the (anti-)hero of 'Run', is an angry man. He does honest but dull and smelly work in a fish-processing plant. Home is a pokey, untidy house on a grey estate. His wife and two sons constantly get on his nerves. To rub salt into an open wound, his car will not start while his eldest son's goes perfectly. (A hint at how Finnie arrived at his grim situation is given here: although he is a relatively young man - actor Mark Stanley would have been in his very early thirties when filming this - he has a child who is already old enough to drive). Mostly the film follows the course of one night during which Finnie steals his son's car, almost runs off with the boy's pregnant girlfriend and witnesses his wife finally snapping at the strain of dealing with her constantly growling husband. At one point the 2019 London Film Festival's screening of the film's European premiere was advertised as having English sub-titles, a strange thing for an English-language film. In the event the sub-titles did not appear, but actually they would have been useful - the film is set in northern Scotland and I must shame-facedly admit I could understand the accents only some of the time. As for the acting, why Englishman Stanley was considered a good fit for Scotsman Finnie I do not know - were all the Scottish actors busy? There's a good turn from Amy Manson as Finnie's wife Katie, although that may be because in her efforts to ignore her own frustrations and lighten the argumentative mood of her family, Katie is a more sympathetic and well-rounded character than her husband. And therein is the film's main problem: as a central character, Finnie is too shallow. So the film is engrossing enough to watch once - principally because the viewer is hoping that Katie gets a happy ending - but once only.

Ignore the naysayers - Great introspective film - the introspection may make it hard to watch but worth it.

Not sure why the previous review would describe this as "Incomprehensible". Anything will be incomprehensible if it is in a language that you don't understand. I am from Aberdeen, not Buchan and I understood it just fine. Much as I liked Local Hero, the Scots language was dumbed down for the benefit of the wider audience. This film on the other hand has a much better crack at authenticity.

Wi an accent that's ainly heard in a 20 mile radius this ane is fer the locals. But it did capture 'at feelin ae helplessness an sobriety ae the broch an did hae a realism tae the ending. Escape noo!

There are other reviews that put it more eloquently, but once all's said and done, the truth is this film is dull, mesmerisingly depressing and devoid of any real story. I actually watched it on the strength of Amy Manson but she's only in less than half of it, and not enough to lift it out of the doldrums Anger, depression, sadness, disappointment, and absolutely no hope whatsoever for the future is what this film brings. There is no escape from the misery so I give it a 3.

source: Run