Running on Empty Dreams (2009)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Nitara Lee Osbourne

Writer:

Nitara Lee Osbourne (writer)

Release Date:

2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Are you moving toward something or running away from something?

Plot:

About a married woman who falls in love with a single mom.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Gay | Illness | Female Nudity | Based On True Events

Cast

Kathleen Benner	...	Sydney Harris
Rachel Owens	...	Jane Smith
Jose Rosete	...	Corey Harris
Wil Rillero	...	Matt Harris
Sevan McBride	...	Tony Smith
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gilbert Andrews	...	Brick Lifting Claimant
Casey Bank	...	Restaurant Extra
Jarrod Brenner	...	Club Dancer
Deuandra T. Brown	...	Waitress
Ellen Brown	...	Restaurant Extra
John Brown	...	Church Goer
DeAnna Cali	...	Trisha Jameson
Demi Christianson	...	Club Waitress
McKinley Clemonts Jr.	...	Drs. Office Visitor and Church Goer
McKinley Clemonts Sr.	...	Church goer
J. Carmichael Cotton	...	Stereo Buyer
Kayla Trystin Da Silva	...	Bike Buyer
Debbie Ewert	...	Church Goer
Kylie Farnsworth	...	Club Dancer
Ray Ferguson	...	Club Dancer
Katie Fox	...	Trendy Cards Visitor and Church goer
David Friedberg	...	Club Dancer
Lolita Gongora	...	Club Dancer
Chantel Gonzales	...	Club Dancer
Josh Gordon	...	Club Dancer
Travis Hansen	...	Gay Guy in Park #2
Michael Harrelson	...	Bill the Supervisor
Ted Herbig	...	Dr. Patt
Chris Irizarry	...	Drs. Office and Trendy Cards Visitor
Jesus Jurial	...	Trendy Cards Visitor
Nathan Kappel	...	Jimmy Smith
Andrew King	...	Club Dancer
Jacqueline Kramer	...	Church Goer
Manual Kramer	...	Church Goer
Eleni C. Krimitsos	...	Trinity Greeting Card Receptionist
Courtney Lato	...	Insurance Agent
Ernie Lausten	...	Body Piercing Desk Clerk
Marc Lyncheski	...	Gay Guy in Park #1
Crystal Martinez	...	Club Dancer
Todd H. Mathus	...	Ssgt. Maverick
Richard Melikian	...	Church Goer
Jaxson Miller	...	John Smith in Park
Marina Milosavlievic	...	Trendy Cards Visitor
Maury Osbourne	...	Pastor Rita's Husband
Jennifer Panek	...	Church Goer
Kyle Panek	...	Church Goer
Michael Panek	...	Church Goer
Leah Parker	...	Church Goer
Nikita Parker	...	Club Dancer
Corey Patterson	...	Club Dancer
Trinity Pickersgill	...	John Smith (voice)
Kimberly jay Pilar	...	Body Piercing Artist
Beverly Poellnitz	...	Restaurant Extra
Kelly Priestley	...	Club Dancer
James Ray	...	John Duncan
Jeremy Ray	...	The Bartender
Hy Rillero	...	Playground Extra
Anthony Rincon	...	Babysitting Baby
Orgena Rose	...	Pastor Rita
Megan Rothaus	...	Club Dancer
Amber Ryan	...	Geri Woods
Alexandra Selles	...	Playground Extra
Dominic Selles	...	Playground Extra
Brandon Somerton	...	Club Dancer
Samantha Sutterley	...	Club Dancer
Crystal Tallon	...	Club Dancer
Georgia Tavera	...	Restaurant Extra
Joshua Tomozolli	...	Club Dancer
Lynda Toraya	...	Club Dancer
Jax Weldon	...	John Smith
Karen Yamasaki	...	Church Goer
Chelsea Zeleny	...	Club Dancer

Also Known As:

Running on Empty (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content and language.

Runtime:

USA:120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (HDTV Color) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Running on Empty Productions

I knew the problem with this...

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

...before I'd even checked IMDb.

While I was sitting watching the film, after the second time I saw a scene that made me go, "Where on earth did THAT come from!?" (the revelation on the doorstep for one: I knew we'd get to that stage with the actresses but, gosh, lead up to it!) I bet that the writer and director were the same person.

And yes they are.

It had the same feeling as Maggie and Annie, when you knew that the writer had not allowed themselves to take a step backward, away from the film so they could be objective.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to like about it:

- it's shot in some lovely locations - the acting is pretty good between the two leading actresses with some truly believable scenes - even the flashback scenes of the war hero husband are pretty damn convincingly done.

But the cardinal rule of film making has been broken - never allow your audience to come out of their bubble of imagination because once it's burst it's very hard to get back into a film.

I just had a feeling that a little distance and honest feedback while deciding what scenes to cut/include/how to make the story progress, would have done this film a lot of favours.

In a word: rushed.

However, there are a LOT of Hollywoood films with huge budgets that have done worse. *Shrugs*