Product Details

• Actors: Bruce Campbell, Anita Barone
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• VHS Release Date: November 16, 1999
• Run Time: 70 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00002RARU
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,058 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The selling point of Josh Becker's high-concept heist picture is a gimmick: the film is shot in one long, (seemingly) unbroken take à la Hitchcock's Rope. The necessary cuts are actually hidden in whip pans and covered in darkness, but for all intents and purposes it looks like a real-time You Are There thriller, and Becker has obviously put a lot of thought into making it look smooth and effortless. Would that he put that much energy into the collection of neo-noir clichés that make up the script. Bruce Campbell (from Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films) stars as the square-jawed street-smart crook sprung from jail only to heist the warden's illegal skim from the prison laundry. His plan is plotted down to the minute but, naturally, begins to unravel almost immediately. If a junkie getaway driver, a stolen van, and a crime scene cased by proxy isn't bad enough, the bickering criminals blow their cover in front of hostages with a juvenile case of name calling, hardly the work of a criminal mastermind. Played for comedy it might have worked, but Becker presents the improbable escapes and a hokey romantic subplot in all seriousness. With only Campbell's disarming tough-guy performance and Becker's technical bravura to carry the film, Running Time comes off as an adolescent's idea of a Tarantino movie: naive, implausible, and contrived, a neat idea undone by a bad script. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a Tarantino rip-off!, May 23, 2000

By	Bryan Wendorf (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I saw this film at the Chicago Underground Film Festival. Sean Axmaker calls it an adolescent wanna-be Tarantino (Isn't Tarantino adolescent enough?) but he's WRONG! Running Time uses its gimmick to tell an effective, simple crime story without the "clever" pop refrences that Tarantino hides his thievery behind. Although I'm not a member of the Bruce-Cambell-Is-God club he gives a fine performance as the cocky anti-hero. This isn't a great film but its a damn good one. Highly Reccomended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very interesting film., June 22, 2000

By	J. Blake Fichera (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Josh Becker's crime drama 'Running Time' is a very interesting and fun film. It is not the greatest film ever made but it is very entertaining. Bruce Campbell(Evil Dead Trilogy) gives a pretty good preformance in which his loyal following will not be disappointed. Becker uses the idea of real time, very well here, by making the film's story very time dependant. It is made to appear that the entire film is in just one shot, which is something that Hitchcock attempted with 'Rope' starring James Stewart. Not to say that Becker is a better filmmaker than Hitchcock but I think his use of this idea is much stronger here. The film is really worth seeing and I believe that the DVD has commentary which I'm sure is very interesting as well.

4.0 out of 5 stars A must for Bruce Campbell fans, September 4, 2001

By	Debbie Saucier "debbiesaucier" (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

A must have for any Bruce Campbell fan!!! The film is not the greatest film ever made, but it is the typical Campbell one liners and side kick comedy. This film does have a little of everything action, comedy and a little romance. Check it out!