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Running Scared | 2006 | R | - 8.8.10
Paul Walker stars as a man who's been trying to muddle through life and take care of his family while at the same time working for an organized crime boss, disposing of items used in crimes. When he is entrusted with a gun that was used to kill a corrupt cop and instead of disposing of it, he loses it, he must follow its trail through the city before both the police and his boss trace it back to him. Also with Cameron Bright, Vera Farmiga, Karel Roden and Johnny Messner. Directed by Wayne Kramer. [1:59]
SEX/NUDITY 8 - A husband approaches his wife who is leaning over a clothes dryer, grabs her crotch, they kiss, he picks her up and puts her on top of the dryer, unfastens her pants, kisses her bare abdomen and pulls her panties away to perform oral sex on her (we see a bit of pubic hair); he then unfastens his pants, pulls them down (we see his bare buttocks), thrusts briefly, she pushes him away, climbs off the dryer and we see her bare buttocks briefly (they do not continue).
► Fully nude women dance in an exotic dance club while men watch (bare breasts, buttocks and female genitalia are clearly visible). A prostitute wears a very short skirt and low-cut top that reveal cleavage and bare thighs. A man takes off his shirt and is bare-chested. We see neon lights outline the shape of women's nude bodies.
► A man and a woman kiss, and a husband and wife kiss a few times. A man and a woman tell a boy and a girl to hug while they film them, and then to put on costumes.
► A man parks outside an exotic dance club and a boy asks, "Do girls really get naked in there?"
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VIOLENCE/GORE 8 - Several gunmen enter a room where other men are gathered: one man is hit in the head with a gun and he falls to the floor, a man cuts the back of a man's leg (his Achilles' tendon) with a razor and the man falls to the floor screaming (blood spurts), one man is shot in the head (blood spurts), and one man is shot in the groin (he writhes on the floor) and then shot in the head; the floor is slick with blood and one man slips, while several other men are shot and killed (blood sprays and spurts).
► There is a shoot out between several men: one man is shot in the back, one man is shot in the face (we see part of his face being blown off), and others continue shooting back and forth at each other.
► Two men fight: one bites the ear of the other off, they struggle over a gun, and one is shot at close range in the stomach and we see part of his rib cage and a very large and bloody open wound when he falls over dead. Two men fight: one man holds a hockey stick over the other's throat, they struggle, and one is shot and falls over dead.
► A man holds a gun on a man and a boy, two women fight with one of the men, one of the men is stabbed in the neck and left bleeding on the floor and the other man is shot in the stomach.
► A cell phone explodes blowing up the man holding it (we see a burst of flames). A woman blows herself up in a shack and the blast blows out the windows of a neighboring house.
► A man and a woman are shot several times in the chest (we see bloody bullet wounds). A man is shot in the back three times (blood trickles from the wounds and from his mouth). A man is shot in the head (blood trickles from the wound). We hear a gunshot, a man carries a boy out of a store, and the boy has a bloody spot on the front of his shirt. A man holds a gun to a boy's head, we hear gunshots and then see two dead men.
► A man is thrown down onto an ice rink, and he is held down while men on skates hit hockey pucks that hit him in the face and head several times (blood pools under his head).
► A man holds a man down with a gun to his head, and then breaks one of his fingers (we see it twist and hear a crunch). We see a flashback sequence of a boy beating his father with a baseball bat because he had been abusive to the boy and his mother (it's not clear that the man died).
► A man hits a woman hard on the face with a book, she falls and hits her face on the headlight of a car, the glass breaks, and the man presses her face into the broken glass, then pulls a knife and threatens to cut the breast implants out of her breasts; a boy holds a gun on the man, the man takes the gun, presses the knife to the boy's face, and the woman hits the man hard on the head and he falls to the ground unconscious.
► A husband hits his wife hard in the face, she falls to the floor, he holds her by the hair and threatens her, and a boy holds a gun on the man; we then hear a gunshot and a bullet breaks through a window and whizzes by the head of a man who is eating dinner with his family. A boy holds a gun on a man, and another man shoots the man. Men with guns force their way into a room, hold guns on the people in the room and force them to the floor.
► A man waves a flaming torch at another man's face, they struggle, the man with the torch accidentally lights his pants on fire and rolls around in pain while the other man interrogates him. A man with a gun breaks through a door and searches a house for another man, whom he finds with a bloody gunshot wound on his shoulder.
► A man slaps a boy in the face, the boy hits the man in the face with a plate of food, and runs away; the man chases him, and threatens to kill him. A man slaps a boy in the face. A woman finds a boy bound and with a plastic bag over his head, shoved in a closet; he falls out when she opens the door, she begins to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and he sputters and breathes. A man is told to kill a boy, he shoves the boy to the ground and holds a gun to his head. A man with a gun threatens several men. A movie on TV shows a man being shot several times.
► A man with a gun breaks a door down and threatens a woman holding a baby with the gun. A man raises his hand to strike a boy (his stepson). A boy threatens a man with a gun, the man takes the gun away from the boy, and the man holds the gun on another man.
► Two boys fight, one shoves the other into a stack of crates (we see large bruises on his back where he has apparently been beaten by his step-father).
► A man yells and shoves a boy against a wall in panic. A woman threatens a man with a gun. We hear a scuffle between a man and a boy, the man yells and says, "You bit me." A woman holds a gun on a man and a woman while searching their apartment. A man and a woman try to break a door open when a boy has locked himself inside.
► A man is forced to drive to a deserted place by two men with guns. A man drives a car recklessly through streets swerving to miss oncoming traffic.
► A woman talks about having been a prostitute and that she became pregnant and that a man was trying to force her to have an abortion or that they would kill her.
► We see people mourning at a funeral. Police grab a woman and a boy and take them away.
► A man with a gun forces a boy to fish a bag filled with illegal drugs out of a filthy toilet. We see bloody gauze on a tray in an operating room. A boy uses an asthma inhaler in several scenes. A man groans and moans while using the toilet. An elderly man eats spaghetti and much of it lands in his lap.
LANGUAGE 10 - 267 F-words and its derivatives, 3 obscene hand gestures, 10 sexual references, 37 scatological terms, 24 anatomical terms, 24 mild obscenities, 5 derogatory terms presumably for Russians, 5 derogatory terms for African-Americans, 4 derogatory terms for homosexuals, 1 derogatory term for Hispanics, name-calling (idiot), 5 religious profanities, 19 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - A drug deal takes place and we see one man testing the quality of the drugs. A boy fishes a bag filled with illegal drugs out of a toilet. A police officer refers to finding cases of Nyquil in a man's garage implying that he is using them for illegal drug production. A man smokes a drug in a pipe. A man smokes something but it is unclear whether it is a drug or tobacco. People are shown drinking alcohol and smoking in a dance club, and people are shown drinking alcohol and smoking. A man smokes in a few scenes, and a woman smokes cigarettes in several scenes. A boy uses an asthma inhaler in several scenes.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Drug trafficking, child abuse, child pornography, police corruption, family, prostitution, step-parenting, drug manufacturing, abortion, evil, promises, double crossing, betrayal.
MESSAGE - Trying to double-cross criminals will put you in mortal danger.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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