Runner Runner - Movie Review | MarkMeets | Celebrity News, Music, Movies, TV, London Film Premieres

Anyone familiar with Wall Street or The Devil’s Advocate films will quickly understand the plot of this online
poker thriller movie. Runner Runner is a 20th Century Fox film starred by Ben Affleck (winner of California State
Poker Champion in 2004) and Justine Timberlake. Other characters you will see include Gemma Arterton, Sam
Palladio, Anthony Mackie, and Bob Gunton.

The script of Runner Runner film was written by Brian Koppelman (writer of Rounders poker movie) and David
Levien. The film is directed by none other than Brad Furman, the famed director of The Lincoln Lawyer. Richie
Furst (Timberlake) risks expulsion from his Master’s classes at Princeton after losing his tuition fee at an online
poker site. When he realized that there are no more options, he heads down to Costa Rica where he meets the king
of online poker Ivan Block (Ben Affleck).

Coincidentally, Richie arrives during his boss’s annual Midnight Black Expo party. He later accuses Ivan of robbing
from him on his online casino site. Ivan takes up the matter to investigate and then learns that the software
developers change codes to enable them to cheat. He fires all the involved people and offers Richie a job where he
promises to pay him handsomely to help him manage the poker platform.

Costa Rica has many attractive sites, and it’s known to be a home for tycoons like Ivan. Richie gets help from some
Yankee boys who are not given any specific character, to learn the ins and outs of the yacht life. He starts a
romantic relationship with Rebecca Shafran (Gemma Arterton) who happens to be Ivan’s ex-lover. Everything goes
on well until Richie is kidnapped by FBI agent Shavers (Anthony Mackie), who threatens to ruin his entire life if he
fails to corporate in providing the information he needed.

But Ivan takes none of these when Richie reported to him. He claimed that it was common for anyone who worked
to be threatened. Unfortunately, agent Shavers’ authority was limited which is why he could not arrest anyone
legally in Costa Rica. Ivan goes ahead with his dirty games by sending Richie to blackmail a top client into some
sort of business partnership. He plans to use him to bribe local authorities who were becoming an obstacle to his
missions.

Realizing that his business had been exposed, he sends Richie to bribe the gaming director of Costa Rica, Herrera
with a small fee. But things turn sour for Richie to the point of being beaten. The merciless Ivan throws Director
Herrera and his bodyguard in a pool full of crocodiles but pulls them out before the reptiles fed on them. Ivan’s
software developer, Andrew Cronin, learns of his boss’s Ponzi scheme. Ivan was using the player’s actual account
deposits as his own bank account but leaving enough to enable them to withdraw whenever they want. Cronin goes
missing and is later on found beaten and injured severely. Suspecting that Richie might change his mind, Ivan
rushes to buy the vast poker debt of Richie’s poor dad and takes him to Costa Rica to use him as a hostage against
him.

Richie tries to run away, but unfortunately, Shaver’s uses his illegal means to plant drugs in his travel bag. He uses
this to take advantage of Richie so that he may provide all the required information. With the help of Rebecca,
Richie learns that Ivan has been using him to accomplish his dirty missions all along and is planning to secretly
relocate from Costa Rica. The genius Richie big bribes all police officers and other local officials then wait for the
relocating day. While on the private jet, Ivan calls to inform Richie that he will be arrested.

It occurs later that Richie had also brided the pilot, who flew Ivan to Puerto Rico which is an American Territory.
Agent Shavers quickly moves in to arrest Ivan as Richie and Rebecca leave in private jet.

Release: October 4 (U.S.) (20th Century Fox)
Production Companies: New Regency, Appian Way, Double Feature Films
Cast: Justin Timberlake, Ben Af leck, Gemma Arterton, Anthony Mackie, Michael Esper, Oliver Cooper, Christian
George, Yul Vasquez, John Heard, James Molina, Louis Lombardo, Vincent Laresca
Director: Brad Furman
Screenwriters: Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Producers: Arnon Milchan, Jennifer Davisson, Killoran, Leonard DiCaprio, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher,
Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Executive producers: Erik Holmberg, Brad Weston
Director of photography: Mauro Fiore