An absolute waste of money

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

I like Nic Cage. Not really as an actor, but I just enjoy seeing him in movies and in general they are pretty enjoyable. But this.This is just a cheap rip-off of House of Cards with a horrible, horrible story. The protagonist is a mix of Peter Russo and Frank Underwood, trying to convince us we have a charismatic, mighty person in front of us like Underwood, while attempting to give him the emotional level and the development of Russo. And this is just horrible. Cage just isn't capable of transmitting this level of emotion to the viewer (first scene where he cried we started to laugh - literally), as the writer isn't capable of delivering any kind of believable plot and character decisions. So I just say it like it is: Even though I like Cage, this movie is not good. I would neither recommend buying, nor watching it. You'll waste your time.

"I'm running for Senate to move things forward, not only for this great state of Louisiana, for this great country." Every time I tend to give Nicolas Cage yet another chance to prove to me why I admired him in the past. What a pleasure it was to see him at work in "Matchstick Men". How impressive he was with his unforgettable role in "Leaving Las Vegas". Admittedly, in the past there were also a few crappy films with him starring in it. Recent years he manages to participate in one failure after the other. Just look at "Ghost Rider", "Tokarev" and "Outcast". The only noticeable better movie between all these is "Joe" (although I still need to see it). The rest is just sad. That's why Cage looks more sad in each released movie. Just look at the cover of "The Runner". Those tired, tormented, sad eyes speak volumes."The Runner" isn't really such a movie that introduces the revival of Cage's film career. And yet I respect Cage for his courage to participate in a politically charged film like this. Because to be honest, politic isn't really an exciting topic to fill a feature film. Politic is boring, sometimes unworldly, incomprehensible and uninteresting to me. It's therefore not surprising that these are also the characteristics of this political drama. The title of the film is a bit misleading. It's not that Cage runs around to provide financial support for local fisheries. Nor that he swiftly runs from one lover to another. Or that it has a symbolic meaning when it comes to his flight out of alcoholism. It simply refers to the daily habit of Congressman Colin Price (Nicolas Cage), to put on a pair of running shoes every morning, so he can go jog a bit.It's all about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico where an explosion on an oil rig caused oil streaming into the sea for months. Southern states like Louisiana and Alabama were hit by this oil spill. Price is a congressman in Louisiana and he's concerned about the fate of the local fishermen and industries. In an emotional plea during an television interview, he draws attention to the economic consequences of this environmental disaster. At once he's the center of attention and his employees see this as an opportunity to let his political career grow. Unfortunately some surveillance recordings are revealed with compromising images of this congressman with an African American young lady in an elevator. Price is truly concerned about these fishermen because she's the wife of an African American fisherman. His political career hits rock bottom and before he knows it, he's looking again at the bottom of a whiskey bottle. Typical American. At least the man tries to do something for the hard-working working man and before you know it, the media comes up with some facts related to the man's private life.The only ray of light in this unnecessary film, filled with political drivel and unabashed corruption, is the magnificent acting by Peter Fonda. He plays Colin's father and he's also a former politician who has swum through difficult waters (oil-free in his case). He also has an enormous alcohol problem. The relationship between both hard-boiled politicians isn't so good. And you can say that's an understatement. There are some wonderful acting moments between father and son. But for the rest, this film is as dead as the fish in the oiled seawater. Apparently politicians are energetic. A trait this film really doesn't possess. Lets hope Cage looks a bit more cheerful in his next film !More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

With all the poor reviews from critics that I've seen on this film, plus its low rating on IMDb I was expecting very little here, so I was somewhat surprised that it turned out to be a reasonably decent watch. It does have many unlikable characters and it's not going to win feel-good movie of the year, but the acting is solid led by Cage and Sarah Paulson, and the story was engaging enough to keep my attention.Nicolas Cage can portray flawed characters as well as anyone, and he does so here as Colin Pryce, a Congressman from a Louisiana coastal district. He's from a family line of politicians, with his father (Peter Fonda) having been a revered Mayor of New Orleans years ago.After the disastrous 2010 BP oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico, Congressman Pryce's popularity soars after he gives impassioned testimony, on Capitol Hill, asking for help for the people in his constituency, and he's being seriously being considered as a Senate candidate for Louisiana.However, his extra-marital dalliance with a young woman is exposed in a closed circuit elevator video and, of course, ends up going viral on the net. Pryce decides to resign and ends up working as a pro bono attorney for citizen claimants against BP, and comes upon all the frustrations associated with bureaucracy and getting a large corporation to pay up. This will lead to Pryce's return to drinking after being sober for 16 years, as well as sparking divorce papers from his high powered and ambitious wife Deborah (Connie Nielsen).After some time has elapsed, Pryce will have to decide whether to "jump in bed" with the manipulative oil companies and re-enter the political world, or continue on the benevolent path he's been on. I might mention the very talented actress Sarah Paulson adds quite a lot to the movie, as a former consultant and friend of Pryce, and later a possible love interest.All in all, as some reviewers here have noted this film exceeded low expectations and became, in my opinion, a reasonably decent watch. I thought it was a good writing and directorial debut for Austin Stark, who's been a producer for a number of excellent films in the past.

I don't know what's wrong with film critics these days, but it's another good movie a lot of them decided to kill... It may be a low budget one, but Nic Cage shines (as basically always... because he is an outstanding actor, whether someone likes it or not) and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The plot is decent, all actors did a good job and you can immediately relate to the main characters. Also, it's a pretty precise sketch of not only how how the politics work, but also how a lot of relationships work... in case somebody didn't know. Definitely time well spent and a must watch if you're tired of the Hunger Games and the kind...