Good movie but grossly overrated

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This movie is a classic. If you like mob movies it should not be missed. Does it have a lot of "F" Words and violence? Yes. But the 'Mob Lifestyle' is not pretty ( despite how popular culture portrays it.) spoilers ahead: First and Formost it is a Fairy Tale and it is Oleg's ( Cameron Bright) story. The very end credits with the comic strip style road map shows this. The thing about Oleg is despite being a boy is he never smiles. The reason being is he goes through Hell. He has a strung out mother an abusive Step Father who married her just to get in this Country ( he is in the Russian Mob). One of the key scenes is when he is kidnapped by a "Nice Couple" who plan on killing him ( like they have done to other children before ( the wife is worse then the husband). He does not call his mom, he calls his next door neighbor Teresa Gazelle. Teresa ( Vera Farmega), is also in a "Political Marriage" in this case to Joey ( Paul Walker) who is a low level Italian Gangster. The only differences is he is an undercover agent for 12 years ( something she does not know), and they love each other. Something that Joey's mob pals do not like about him. One example is his refusal to cheat on her. Teresa is the movie's moral compass. She kills the child murderers in cold blood by shooting them to death ( you see that Russian mob upbringing when she does that). At the end of the movie the Russian Don wants Oleg's Step Father to shoot him to death, and he finally does a decent thing and refuses and gets murdered for that. It happens in a particularly violent scene in a hockey arena, where both the Russian and Italian Dons ( as well as their foot soldiers shot) die and only Joey and Oleg survive. Joey says to Oleg " I am taking you home." Oleg says "I don't want to go home." What happens is Oleg's mother kills herself by turning on gas and lighting a match., and Joey gets shot., and you see him dying giving his final goodbyes to Teresa and their son Nicky. However, it turned out that his death was faked so he can finally get out of that lifestyle ( he told the Don that "I was almost out, but you had to get involved with the Russians"). Teresa told him "I never want to have to bury you again." Then you finally see Oleg smile ( along with Joey, Teresa and Nicky). Basically his nightmare was over. I have read numerous reviews critical that Joey was an undercover FBI Agent and there is a happy ending. But that was the best way to end this movie. Why? Because the Protagonist was Oleg, and his life was Hell, and he did nothing to create his own situation, he deserves the "Happily Ever After" ending. if someone likes Mob Movies this should be a must see. 10/10 Stars.

Joey Gazelle (Paul Walker) is a low level enforcer. Corrupt cops in ski masks try to rob them. They end up killing the cops in a shootout. Joey's son Nicky and next door neighbor kid Oleg Yugorsky (Cameron Bright) see him hiding a gun in the basement. Oleg steals that gun to shoot his abusive father. That gun turns out to be one used in the cop shootout. Joey must cover up the evidences and find Oleg with his gun.This is desperately gritty. It is a showy form of ugliness. It wears thin after awhile. It gets tiresome. Also I'm not invested in Joey getting back his gun. It would be more interesting to follow Oleg instead. He has the more compelling story. Paul Walker should be a supporting actor. It's more fascinating to see him play a villain chasing down little Oleg.

'Running Scared' starts out with its thumb on the ridiculous button and just keeps doubling down on the absurdity as it goes, which is a shame because buried underneath all of the over the top antics is a tight little thriller. It also contains what may be Paul Walker's best performance ('Meet the Deedles' not withstanding). He really sinks his teeth into this in a way that shows a sadly untapped dramatic potential. I can't imagine any of his more celebrated contemporaries doing any better.'Running Scared' is a pretty fun movie, but I feel that it could've been so much more.

It is significant that this movie gets such high ratings. It gives me little hope for humanity, as it signals to me the general 'rate' of people nowadays. How can you indulge so much unworthiness, inhumanity and degradation? Why is it that insisting on elevation and not depravation only meets with loathing and mockery today? For instance, is there no one who gets troubled by the increasing usage in movies of babies amidst violent situations involving screaming and other utterances? These kids have no conscience of the theatrical setting; they themselves aren't actors and will take the violence for real. Why is the monitoring of animals and not of small children normative? No doubt Running Scared is a skillfully made product and it gives your nerves the expected blow. But I get so tired and sick of all the negativeness, aggression, swearing and other subhuman behavior in our modern films. Do you still think this won't have any effect on our growing youths? Don't you see we're judging ourselves this way, bringing affliction to humanity by constantly consuming filth and gloom? I'd like to make an appeal to the movie industry for taking its responsibility in educating people, instead of merely making money out of life's darknesses. Methinks we weren't born to drag each other into the pools of obscurity, but to inspire one another in reaching for the stars.