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Running Time (1997) More at IMDbPro »

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Find it! Watch it! Now!, 3 August 2004
Author: sparklecat

Josh Becker's "Running Time" is a remarkably effective and economical heist flick shot in black and white with the illusion of being a single take. These stylistic anomalies may draw your attention at first, but "Running Time" is more than its experimental hook. It's a good, taut thriller with a sharp comic edge. It also has a refreshingly brisk pace (clocking in at about 70 minutes long).

Bruce Campbell is excellent in the lead role as Carl, an ex-con whose plan for the perfect heist is undone by the incompetence of his partner Patrick (Jeremy Roberts) and a general case of Murphy's law. Anita Barone also gives a winning performance as Carl's former high school squeeze, Janie.

"Running Time" is a fine film that deserves a wider audience. Help start the trend.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Not enough time but I liked it, 26 April 2004

Author: Mrcheeks

This movie is a must see for aspiring film makers. It's goal was to make a diverse film while trying to show movies are an art form within their own right.

I didn't appreciate this movie until about 70% of the way in though. The story was original but at the same time a rehash of a dozen bank robbery scenarios we've all seen. Everything that could go wrong does, our two main bad guys fight a lot and people start dying.

But that was only on the surface. The robbery storyline needs to be overlooked and the three main characters given our focus. Towards the end of the movie we begin to see they are much more dynamic than assumed. It's at this point where the story takes second stage and the dynamics of Carl, Patrick and Janie truly come forward.

I liked the artistic sense this film had a lot and being made to feel as if it was one continuous camera shot beginning to end was very cool. Some scenes had that old black and white feel and line delivery of the classics.

It did leave something to be desired though. For a low budget indi film it was great and I really feel the plot and characters had a lot more to offer. This would be an excellent movie to make a larger budget version of such as which was done with Desperado.

I think the biggest problem was trying to capture elements of much older movies and everything being done in one take. The supporting characters should have been developed more which would of allowed for a longer movie. A little work on the script here and there plus more willingness to do more than one take for scenes could have made it the success the low budget B&W film Clerks was....honestly the genres weren't too far off.

As a true film lover, indi film maker or simply a Bruce Campbell fan it's well worth seeing but best without expectations.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Movie, 30 January 2003
Author: valens-69 from New York

Running Time was filmed in Black and White and is the second feature film in history to attempt the technique of one continuous shot.

Carl(Bruce Campbell) launches a full-scale heist to steal mob money from the prison that just released him.

With the enrolled help of his old friend Patrick(Jeremy Roberts) they have a driver and a safecracker.

Carl attempts to carry out the scheme, however everything goes wrong and Carl is forced to make the most important decision of his life.

Great Script from Josh Becker who is also a long time friend of Sam Raimi and the rest of Rami's kliq.

Josh Becker's Directing is right on the money, a great job indeed.

Bruce Campbell gives his best performance ever, he shows how talented of an actor he is.

I give Running Time 9/10

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
The best real time movie I've seen, 1 January 2006

Author: Superunknovvn from Austria, Vienna

This is an amazing movie. I popped the DVD into my player expecting a typical Bruce Campbell b-movie, but "Running Time" turned out to be much more than that. It succeeds on every level. Bruce Campbell shines in the leading role. I just love this man. This has got to be one of his best movies, right up there with the "Evil Dead" trilogy and "Bubba Ho-Tep". Actually, the whole cast is great. I especially fell for Anita Barone who I'd like to see in a lot more movies in the future. I won't spoil it for you, but watch out for her first meeting with Bruce Campbell's character in the movie. It's hilarious.

"Running Time" is shot in beautiful black and white, which gives the movie a film noir feeling. The script is written very cleverly with some witty dialog and tight pacing. From the beginning we are drawn into the story. The old real time formula works here for a change, although the concept does sometimes lead to a few lengths here and there. Still, the movie is far from ever getting boring and at 70 minutes running time "Running Time" (haha) is maybe even a bit too short. Doesn't matter. For me this one is an overlooked sleeper. If you get a chance, watch it!

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Very nice movie, 9 May 2003

Author: Streetwolf

Nicely made black and white movie with some very nice acting.

Carl (Bruce Campbell), once a popular highschool student gets released from prison after serving 5 years for a heist gone bad. Outside, his friend and partner Patrick awaits his release so they can go rob a bank, but when he meets the girl he left behind in highschool 15 years ago he stands with a difficult choice of having to choose the money or her.

The movie was just over an hour and since it seemed very live we get to see all the actors really putting in a great effort to make this movie good.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
An excellent thriller that deserves to be better known., 8 June 2008

Author: Scott LeBrun from Winnipeg, Canada

Carl (Bruce Campbell) is just being released from prison, but he's already got plans for a major heist. Due to the bumbling of his none-too-reliable partner Patrick (Jeremy Roberts), things unravel pretty quickly as one thing after another goes wrong.

Drawing inspiration from Alfred Hitchcocks' classic movie "Rope", this well-crafted movie appears to unfold in real time and be shot in one continuous take. This creates a constant flow of action, and allows a viewer to feel as if they are right there with the characters. There are no extraneous subplots; it's a simple story, well told and very well acted by its principal actors. It clocks in at a breezy 69 minutes and also has a nice feel of realism.

Sharp black and white cinematography (by Kurt Rauf) and agile camera-work (by Bill Gierhart) and entertaining music (by Joseph LoDuca) are very worthy assets. The cast is convincing and riveting; B-movie icon Campbell is a great lead, well supported by Roberts as the well-meaning but ineffectual Patrick, Anita Barone as a wonderfully appealing nice-girl prostitute (and former flame of Campbell!), Stan Davis as safe-cracker Buzz, Gordon Jennison as pathetic and untrustworthy junkie getaway driver Donny, and excellent character veteran Art LaFleur as the prison warden.

Trust me, this little movie will get your attention and keep you interested. It's solid entertainment - sometimes funny, sometimes harrowing, and sometimes even touching. I highly recommend it.

8/10

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
An ambitious, and hugely successful experiment!, 21 December 2006

Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England

It's an idea with the potential to go wrong, but Hitchcock made it work with Rope, and now Josh Becker has done the same with Running Time; a film with the word 'cult' written all over it! The fact that this film is shot in black and white makes it stand out somewhat from the crowd of nineties films, but it's the way that it's filmed that is Running Time's claim to fame. Becker shoots the film in one continuous shot that follows around lead character Carl through one day. This idea worked brilliantly for Hitchcock, but I was worried that it might not work so well for a movie about a heist - but it really couldn't have worked better! As mentioned, the plot follows Carl Metushka - a man newly released from prison. He meets up with his buddy, and it soon becomes apparent that Carl hasn't decided to stay away from the life of crime. No, he and his friend have a heist planned and we watch as they pick up a couple of people needed for the heist, and proceed to do the actual robbery...but you can't expect a plan like this to go off without a hitch.

The fact that Running Time is filmed in one continuous shot means that it's very easy to get into. This is complimented by the running time, which is extremely short at just sixty five minutes, and means that the film really doesn't have time to get boring. Becker keeps things interesting with a constant flow of action, and some rather amusing dialogue, which ensures that the film constantly makes for fun viewing. One of my major reasons for seeing this film was because of the presence of B-movie maestro Bruce Campbell. Campbell has a lot of charisma, and this shines through excellently in this film. Campbell is a very handsome man, and Becker makes good use of that fact with his role here. The rest of the cast are secondary to Campbell, but good use is made of all of them, and they all give realistic performances. The film is a little preposterous as certain things, the ending especially, are a little silly -but it really doesn't matter as Josh Becker's experiment is a huge success and overall, I can't not recommend that everyone takes the time to track Running Time down!

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Tight, well-made indy deserves more recognition, 29 March 1999

Author: Erewhon from Los Angeles, California

Made in the same all-in-one-take method that Hitchcock (who is thanked in the end credits) created for ROPE, RUNNING TIME is actually more inventive on some levels. Hitchcock shot his film on a stage at Warner Bros., but Becker's is made out in the streets of Los Angeles. Granted, Hitchcock didn't have the highly mobile, lightweight camera equipment available to Becker, but it couldn't have been easy shooting RUNNING TIME (amusing, punning title) from moving cars and on Los Angeles streets.

The script is taut and well-written, and occasionally quite amusing as the hold-up men squabble amongst themselves during the robbery. The movie is also unexpectedly romantic in a tough, ultra-film-noir manner (the hero and heroine have sex before they recognize each other from high school).

Becker also varies the style impressively at times, from a rock-steady, documentary-style approach at the beginning, to a more surrealistic sequence during the robbery, as the camera shifts wildly from one perspective to another.

The film didn't have much theatrical distribution, and is evidently available on video only from the director, but video stores should stock it. This is one of those movies whose reputation will increase in the years to come.

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Very boring and way way over-rated, 8 May 2009

Author: rmcdonald-3 from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Oh dear, this movie was bad for various reasons. I was expecting to see a very low score for this film and was a bit surprised by the over-all score.Sorry, but to rate this highly as many have, is a joke! Once you get past the one shot/black and white movie gimmick, which was a nice idea, the movie drags on, even at a run time of only 66 minutes. The credits sequence at the start was so annoying too!In the van the guys suffer a flat tyre and change the wheel, wow, that was needed in the story! How slow were the guys chasing and actually managing to wound Campbell?? They did not seem to bother continue chasing him...sigh..I am only too glad I got this free with a special Edition of Evil Dead!!

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Gritty Realism, 27 April 2006

Author: djdiabolikal from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The film being shot in black and white, real time(I actually watched the clock and it all lines up), and in one shot gives this movie a realism, and grittiness that is really cool.

If not for the fact that the movie had some recognizable actors you might almost believe it was real.

Bruce Campbell is as cool as ever in the lead roll, and the supporting actors are really good.

I especially liked the relationship between Bruce Campbell and Anita Barone who plays his love interest. By the end of the movie I really found myself pulling for them to end up together.

I gave this movie 7/10 stars, if I could say anything negative about it, it would only be that the movie was pretty short at under 70 minutes.

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