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Running Scared (2006 film)
Encyclopedia
Running Scared is a 2006 crime film
written and directed by Wayne Kramer
and released by New Line Cinema
. The film stars Paul Walker
, Cameron Bright
, Vera Farmiga
, Chazz Palminteri
, Alex Neuberger
(in his film debut) and Johnny Messner. It was released in the United States
on February 24, 2006. It received mixed reviews.
) driving with a boy, Oleg Yugorsky (Cameron Bright
). Oleg has a blood stain on his shirt, implying that he had been shot. The movie then flashes back eighteen hours before the unfolding scene. Joey, a low-level mafioso
, is attending a drug deal with his boss Tommy (Johnny Messner) and associate Sal when a trio of masked men burst in and try to steal the drugs and money. When Tommy shoots one of the hoods, a shootout commences in which all the drug dealers and two of the hoods are killed, forcing their leader to flee. Tommy then discovers that the men were dirty cops
. As the mobsters flee in a panic, Tommy gives the murder weapons to Joey, telling him to get rid of them.
Rather than dispose of the guns, Joey goes home to his wife Teresa (Vera Farmiga
) and son Nicky (Alex Neuberger
), and hides the guns in the basement while Nicky and his friend from next door, Oleg, secretly watch. Oleg returns home to his abusive
stepfather Anzor Yugorsky (Karel Roden
), the outcast nephew of the Russian mob boss Ivan Yugorsky (John Noble
), and battered mother Mila (Ivana Miličević
). When Anzor becomes belligerent towards Oleg, Oleg shoots him with a nickel-plated .38 that he had stolen from Joey's basement. Next door, the Gazelle family is disrupted by the gunshots and Joey rushes next door. He finds Anzor wounded, and Oleg gone. When Anzor describes the weapon to Joey, he realizes that Oleg had stolen one of the murder weapons, and rushes out in a frantic search to find Oleg and the gun.
Oleg runs to a nearby park, where he is caught by a homeless man, who takes his gun and drags him to a drug dealer's den. Joey and Nicky follow, trying to find him. The criminals then fire on each other, alerting Joey and giving Oleg time to escape with the gun. Oleg runs until he finds a pimp named Lester smacking around one of his prostitutes, Divina. When Lester pulls a knife, Oleg pulls his gun on him and fires, only to find the gun empty. However, the prostitute knocks Lester unconscious and, as she prepares to run, notices Oleg coughing. Indebted to him, she takes him to a pharmacy to get him an inhaler. When the pharmacist refuses, she draws the gun and gets the inhaler at gunpoint.
Meanwhile, the surviving dirty cop Rydell (Chazz Palminteri
) informs Tommy that Joey has lost the gun, and that it is out on the street in the hands of Oleg. Joey goes to meet the boss of the Italian mob, Frankie Perello (Arthur J. Nascarella
) at a diner to say that the gun used to shoot Anzor was not from the shootout with the cops. Frankie says that he wants Oleg found, because Frankie and Yugorsky are working together on a 'gasoline deal', and he wants them to remain in good standing.
Outside, Nicky notices Oleg and Divina entering the same diner, and goes after them. Nicky and Oleg stash the gun in the tank of a toilet. Oleg leaves and tries to convince Divina to drive him out of town. He is caught by the police and, when he lies to Rydell about where he got the gun, is released into his stepfather's custody.
Back at home, Teresa tries to convince Mila to go to a shelter. Mila tells her that she was a prostitute in Moscow who was brought over by Yugorsky. She became pregnant and refused to have an abortion
, so Yugorsky sent Anzor to kill her. Instead, he married her in order to give her protection.
Anzor takes Oleg to an ice cream parlor and attempts to get him to reveal the gun's location. Oleg runs away, climbing into a parked van. Oleg is found there by a married couple, Dez (Bruce Altman
) and Edele (Elizabeth Mitchell
), who take him along with two other children back to their apartment. Oleg is taken to a large playroom filled with various toys and a camera, and notices Dez and Edele exhibiting odd behavior. He complains of an upset stomach and is directed to a bathroom. Oleg tries to escape the apartment, but instead finds Edele's purse by the door. He takes her cellphone and is redirected to the bathroom, where he calls Teresa Gazelle as surreal shadows of long-fingered monsters dance on the wall behind him. Upon hearing the situation, Teresa prompts him to find a prescription bottle with the apartment's address, and promises to come get him as Dez and Edele begin to try and force their way into the bathroom. They catch Oleg just as he hides the cellphone.
Teresa drives out to the apartment and knocks on the door. Edele instructs Dez to take the kids back to the bedroom before emerging in nothing more than a robe. Teresa tells her that Oleg called her from that address. When Edele deflects, Teresa threatens to call the police, so Edele lets her inside. Searching through the entirety of the apartment, including the bedroom where Edele's "two children" lie in bed asleep, Teresa finds no trace of Oleg; however as she leaves, she comes to a realization and forces herself back in, pointing out that there was not a single photograph of their children in the whole house. Edele panics and says that they were just moving in and that everything was still in storage as Teresa rushes back into the playroom. Dez threatens to call the police on her, but then Teresa pulls a gun, demanding to know where Oleg is. Terrified, Dez silently indicates a closet in the playroom, and Teresa finds Oleg tied up with a plastic bag on his head. Teresa keeps the two adults at bay with her gun as she tries to revive Oleg with CPR. Oleg comes to and Teresa frees him from his bonds. Keeping the gun on the adults, Teresa instructs Oleg to get the two other children from the bedroom. Dez offers Teresa a hundred thousand dollars in diamonds from their safe as long as she just takes Oleg and leaves. Ignoring him, Teresa pushes through the closet, finding child costumes and plastic body bags and, behind everything, shelves of DVD
cases with children's names on them. At the bottom of the closet are surgical instruments, and Teresa notices that the playroom floor is completely covered in plastic. Horrified, Teresa demands Dez's phone and calls the police, reporting that she heard gunshots at the apartment's address. She hangs up and shoots Dez and Edele.
Joey continues to search for the gun, tracking it to the mechanic, only to find out that he'd sold it to Lester the pimp. Joey picks up Oleg to go and retrieve it, but as Joey is about to make his move, Tommy and Sal confront them. They strong-arm Joey into meeting them at an abandoned train yard, leaving Oleg in the car. Tommy, seemingly intent on killing Joey for his screw-up, ends up shooting Sal dead. Tommy explains that Sal had been arrested before, and had walked as an informant. He then makes a call to Rydell, activating a bomb in the cop's bag, killing him. Tommy then drives Oleg to a hockey rink with Joey in tow, where they meet the Italian and Russian mob bosses, along with Anzor. Joey is held down onto the ice, where Russian hockey players shoot pucks at his face. Yugorsky demands that Oleg tell them where he got the gun. When he lies, the boss of the Russian mob orders Anzor to kill Oleg. Joey pleads for them not to do it, and Anzor hesitates. Finally he drops the gun and his uncle shoots him for being weak. Joey then tells Yugorsky that Frankie had wanted to kill Anzor for cooking meth in the neighborhood, and that the gun was Tommy's. Tommy pulls a gun to kill Joey and a shootout commences, killing all of the mobsters except Frankie. Frankie comes to kill Joey, who reveals that he is actually an undercover FBI agent. Oleg pulls a gun on Frankie, distracting him so Joey could grab Frankie's gun and shoot him. Joey and Oleg leave the hockey rink in time to see the FBI storm the building.
Joey takes Oleg out for some breakfast, but as they leave, Lester walks in. Lester threatens Oleg with a knife and produces the gun. Joey steps in and kills Lester by stabbing him in the neck. In a flash, Joey and Oleg are seen fleeing the diner. The movie's opening scene repeats as Joey and Oleg drive away, both bloodstained. But Oleg realizes that it is Joey's blood on both of them, as he had been shot in the struggle.
Back in the neighborhood, Mila has locked herself up in the shed behind their house, grieving and staring down at a picture of Oleg. Thinking him to be dead, she holds up a lighter to an open propane tank, blowing up the meth lab in her backyard and killing herself. Teresa and Nicky both come out of the house to investigate, and see Joey weaving down the street, losing consciousness from blood loss. Joey crashes the car and Teresa holds him as he goes limp. Oleg stands in front of his house, watching it burn.
Days later, a funeral is held for Joey with Teresa, Nicky, and Oleg in attendance. They drive out of the city to a small farm house, where Joey's car is parked in the driveway. Teresa, sitting on the car's bumper, seemingly talks to herself when she says "Don't ever ask me to bury you again, Joey." Joey himself emerges from under the car, alive and well, and hugs Nicky and Oleg, who they appear to have adopted, living free and clear now that Joey is no longer undercover
.
.
Justin Chang of Variety
described Whitaker's cinematography, which primarily used Steadicam and crane shots, as "[dazzling] with a desaturated palette that nevertheless has a rich, grimy luster". He also noted the film had an odd plot, which was disarming given it was shot in Prague
rather than somewhere that looks closer to New Jersey. Sam Wigley of Sight and Sound said the vicious gangland depicted in the film resembles an "iniquitous fairytale realm", although it is dark, and "passes in a vertiginous blur of comic-book hyper-reality".
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
written and directed by Wayne Kramer
Wayne Kramer (filmmaker)
Wayne Kramer is a South African screenwriter, film producer, storyboard artist and film director.Kramer has written and directed films such as The Cooler, Crossing Over, Blazeland and Running Scared...
and released by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
. The film stars Paul Walker
Paul Walker
Paul William Walker IV is an American actor. He became well known in 1999 after his role in the hit film Varsity Blues. He is also known for starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious. His other films include Joy Ride, Running Scared, Into the Blue and Eight Below...
, Cameron Bright
Cameron Bright
Cameron Bright is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in the films Godsend, Birth, Running Scared, Ultraviolet, X-Men: The Last Stand, Thank You for Smoking and three installments of The Twilight Saga.-Life and career:Bright was born in Victoria, British Columbia; he was given his middle name,...
, Vera Farmiga
Vera Farmiga
Vera Ann Farmiga is an American actress and director. Farmiga made her film debut in the 1998 drama thriller Return to Paradise. This was followed by supporting roles in the 2000 romantic film Autumn in New York and the 2001 television series UC: Undercover...
, Chazz Palminteri
Chazz Palminteri
Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....
, Alex Neuberger
Alex Neuberger
Alexander James Neuberger is an American actor.Alex Neuberger was born in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. His first role was in the 2006 film, Running Scared, a thriller starring Paul Walker. Neuberger plays "Nicky Gazelle", the son of Walker's character...
(in his film debut) and Johnny Messner. It was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on February 24, 2006. It received mixed reviews.
Plot
The movie begins with Joey Gazelle (Paul WalkerPaul Walker
Paul William Walker IV is an American actor. He became well known in 1999 after his role in the hit film Varsity Blues. He is also known for starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious. His other films include Joy Ride, Running Scared, Into the Blue and Eight Below...
) driving with a boy, Oleg Yugorsky (Cameron Bright
Cameron Bright
Cameron Bright is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in the films Godsend, Birth, Running Scared, Ultraviolet, X-Men: The Last Stand, Thank You for Smoking and three installments of The Twilight Saga.-Life and career:Bright was born in Victoria, British Columbia; he was given his middle name,...
). Oleg has a blood stain on his shirt, implying that he had been shot. The movie then flashes back eighteen hours before the unfolding scene. Joey, a low-level mafioso
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, is attending a drug deal with his boss Tommy (Johnny Messner) and associate Sal when a trio of masked men burst in and try to steal the drugs and money. When Tommy shoots one of the hoods, a shootout commences in which all the drug dealers and two of the hoods are killed, forcing their leader to flee. Tommy then discovers that the men were dirty cops
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
. As the mobsters flee in a panic, Tommy gives the murder weapons to Joey, telling him to get rid of them.
Rather than dispose of the guns, Joey goes home to his wife Teresa (Vera Farmiga
Vera Farmiga
Vera Ann Farmiga is an American actress and director. Farmiga made her film debut in the 1998 drama thriller Return to Paradise. This was followed by supporting roles in the 2000 romantic film Autumn in New York and the 2001 television series UC: Undercover...
) and son Nicky (Alex Neuberger
Alex Neuberger
Alexander James Neuberger is an American actor.Alex Neuberger was born in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. His first role was in the 2006 film, Running Scared, a thriller starring Paul Walker. Neuberger plays "Nicky Gazelle", the son of Walker's character...
), and hides the guns in the basement while Nicky and his friend from next door, Oleg, secretly watch. Oleg returns home to his abusive
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
stepfather Anzor Yugorsky (Karel Roden
Karel Roden
Karel Roden is a Czech actor, known for his roles in Hellboy and The Bourne Supremacy.Roden's father and grandfather were also actors. After studying theatrical art in Prague he has played many roles in theatres and movies. First, he graduated school of ceramic, then he was admitted to the Academy...
), the outcast nephew of the Russian mob boss Ivan Yugorsky (John Noble
John Noble
John Noble is an Australian film and television actor, and theater director of more than 80 plays. He was born in Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia and is currently starring as scientist Walter Bishop in the J. J. Abrams television series Fringe.He made occasional appearances on the...
), and battered mother Mila (Ivana Miličević
Ivana Milicevic
-Early life:Miličević was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Croatian family, the daughter of Tonka, a homemaker, and Damir Miličević, a slaughterhouse worker and entrepreneur. She emigrated to the United States at the age of five and was raised in Michigan...
). When Anzor becomes belligerent towards Oleg, Oleg shoots him with a nickel-plated .38 that he had stolen from Joey's basement. Next door, the Gazelle family is disrupted by the gunshots and Joey rushes next door. He finds Anzor wounded, and Oleg gone. When Anzor describes the weapon to Joey, he realizes that Oleg had stolen one of the murder weapons, and rushes out in a frantic search to find Oleg and the gun.
Oleg runs to a nearby park, where he is caught by a homeless man, who takes his gun and drags him to a drug dealer's den. Joey and Nicky follow, trying to find him. The criminals then fire on each other, alerting Joey and giving Oleg time to escape with the gun. Oleg runs until he finds a pimp named Lester smacking around one of his prostitutes, Divina. When Lester pulls a knife, Oleg pulls his gun on him and fires, only to find the gun empty. However, the prostitute knocks Lester unconscious and, as she prepares to run, notices Oleg coughing. Indebted to him, she takes him to a pharmacy to get him an inhaler. When the pharmacist refuses, she draws the gun and gets the inhaler at gunpoint.
Meanwhile, the surviving dirty cop Rydell (Chazz Palminteri
Chazz Palminteri
Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....
) informs Tommy that Joey has lost the gun, and that it is out on the street in the hands of Oleg. Joey goes to meet the boss of the Italian mob, Frankie Perello (Arthur J. Nascarella
Arthur J. Nascarella
Arthur J. Nascarella is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of films, most often playing a mobster or police officer. Among his notable film credits include a corrupt cop in Cop Land , a hypocritical ambulance captain in Bringing Out The Dead and a fed-up casino boss in The Cooler; he has...
) at a diner to say that the gun used to shoot Anzor was not from the shootout with the cops. Frankie says that he wants Oleg found, because Frankie and Yugorsky are working together on a 'gasoline deal', and he wants them to remain in good standing.
Outside, Nicky notices Oleg and Divina entering the same diner, and goes after them. Nicky and Oleg stash the gun in the tank of a toilet. Oleg leaves and tries to convince Divina to drive him out of town. He is caught by the police and, when he lies to Rydell about where he got the gun, is released into his stepfather's custody.
Back at home, Teresa tries to convince Mila to go to a shelter. Mila tells her that she was a prostitute in Moscow who was brought over by Yugorsky. She became pregnant and refused to have an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, so Yugorsky sent Anzor to kill her. Instead, he married her in order to give her protection.
Anzor takes Oleg to an ice cream parlor and attempts to get him to reveal the gun's location. Oleg runs away, climbing into a parked van. Oleg is found there by a married couple, Dez (Bruce Altman
Bruce Altman
Bruce Altman is an American film and television actor. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.-Film:*Regarding Henry - Bruce*My New Gun - Irwin Bloom*Glengarry Glen Ross - Larry Spannel...
) and Edele (Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell , is an American actress/modelwho is known for her roles as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC's TV series Lost and as FBI agent Erica Evans on V. She has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Gia.-Early life:Mitchell was born Elizabeth...
), who take him along with two other children back to their apartment. Oleg is taken to a large playroom filled with various toys and a camera, and notices Dez and Edele exhibiting odd behavior. He complains of an upset stomach and is directed to a bathroom. Oleg tries to escape the apartment, but instead finds Edele's purse by the door. He takes her cellphone and is redirected to the bathroom, where he calls Teresa Gazelle as surreal shadows of long-fingered monsters dance on the wall behind him. Upon hearing the situation, Teresa prompts him to find a prescription bottle with the apartment's address, and promises to come get him as Dez and Edele begin to try and force their way into the bathroom. They catch Oleg just as he hides the cellphone.
Teresa drives out to the apartment and knocks on the door. Edele instructs Dez to take the kids back to the bedroom before emerging in nothing more than a robe. Teresa tells her that Oleg called her from that address. When Edele deflects, Teresa threatens to call the police, so Edele lets her inside. Searching through the entirety of the apartment, including the bedroom where Edele's "two children" lie in bed asleep, Teresa finds no trace of Oleg; however as she leaves, she comes to a realization and forces herself back in, pointing out that there was not a single photograph of their children in the whole house. Edele panics and says that they were just moving in and that everything was still in storage as Teresa rushes back into the playroom. Dez threatens to call the police on her, but then Teresa pulls a gun, demanding to know where Oleg is. Terrified, Dez silently indicates a closet in the playroom, and Teresa finds Oleg tied up with a plastic bag on his head. Teresa keeps the two adults at bay with her gun as she tries to revive Oleg with CPR. Oleg comes to and Teresa frees him from his bonds. Keeping the gun on the adults, Teresa instructs Oleg to get the two other children from the bedroom. Dez offers Teresa a hundred thousand dollars in diamonds from their safe as long as she just takes Oleg and leaves. Ignoring him, Teresa pushes through the closet, finding child costumes and plastic body bags and, behind everything, shelves of DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
cases with children's names on them. At the bottom of the closet are surgical instruments, and Teresa notices that the playroom floor is completely covered in plastic. Horrified, Teresa demands Dez's phone and calls the police, reporting that she heard gunshots at the apartment's address. She hangs up and shoots Dez and Edele.
Joey continues to search for the gun, tracking it to the mechanic, only to find out that he'd sold it to Lester the pimp. Joey picks up Oleg to go and retrieve it, but as Joey is about to make his move, Tommy and Sal confront them. They strong-arm Joey into meeting them at an abandoned train yard, leaving Oleg in the car. Tommy, seemingly intent on killing Joey for his screw-up, ends up shooting Sal dead. Tommy explains that Sal had been arrested before, and had walked as an informant. He then makes a call to Rydell, activating a bomb in the cop's bag, killing him. Tommy then drives Oleg to a hockey rink with Joey in tow, where they meet the Italian and Russian mob bosses, along with Anzor. Joey is held down onto the ice, where Russian hockey players shoot pucks at his face. Yugorsky demands that Oleg tell them where he got the gun. When he lies, the boss of the Russian mob orders Anzor to kill Oleg. Joey pleads for them not to do it, and Anzor hesitates. Finally he drops the gun and his uncle shoots him for being weak. Joey then tells Yugorsky that Frankie had wanted to kill Anzor for cooking meth in the neighborhood, and that the gun was Tommy's. Tommy pulls a gun to kill Joey and a shootout commences, killing all of the mobsters except Frankie. Frankie comes to kill Joey, who reveals that he is actually an undercover FBI agent. Oleg pulls a gun on Frankie, distracting him so Joey could grab Frankie's gun and shoot him. Joey and Oleg leave the hockey rink in time to see the FBI storm the building.
Joey takes Oleg out for some breakfast, but as they leave, Lester walks in. Lester threatens Oleg with a knife and produces the gun. Joey steps in and kills Lester by stabbing him in the neck. In a flash, Joey and Oleg are seen fleeing the diner. The movie's opening scene repeats as Joey and Oleg drive away, both bloodstained. But Oleg realizes that it is Joey's blood on both of them, as he had been shot in the struggle.
Back in the neighborhood, Mila has locked herself up in the shed behind their house, grieving and staring down at a picture of Oleg. Thinking him to be dead, she holds up a lighter to an open propane tank, blowing up the meth lab in her backyard and killing herself. Teresa and Nicky both come out of the house to investigate, and see Joey weaving down the street, losing consciousness from blood loss. Joey crashes the car and Teresa holds him as he goes limp. Oleg stands in front of his house, watching it burn.
Days later, a funeral is held for Joey with Teresa, Nicky, and Oleg in attendance. They drive out of the city to a small farm house, where Joey's car is parked in the driveway. Teresa, sitting on the car's bumper, seemingly talks to herself when she says "Don't ever ask me to bury you again, Joey." Joey himself emerges from under the car, alive and well, and hugs Nicky and Oleg, who they appear to have adopted, living free and clear now that Joey is no longer undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
.
Cast
- Paul WalkerPaul WalkerPaul William Walker IV is an American actor. He became well known in 1999 after his role in the hit film Varsity Blues. He is also known for starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious. His other films include Joy Ride, Running Scared, Into the Blue and Eight Below...
as Joey Gazelle: A low-level thug working for the Perello mob family. He is ordered to dispose Tommy's gun after it was used in a bloody shootout that resulted in a death of a police officer; however, Joey never does and the gun is stolen by Oleg, thrusting Joey into a dangerous mission to retrieve the missing gun before either the cops or the Perello mob do. - Cameron BrightCameron BrightCameron Bright is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in the films Godsend, Birth, Running Scared, Ultraviolet, X-Men: The Last Stand, Thank You for Smoking and three installments of The Twilight Saga.-Life and career:Bright was born in Victoria, British Columbia; he was given his middle name,...
as Oleg Yugorsky: The son of Mila Yugorsky and stepson of Anzor Yugorsky, who are Russian immigrants and neighbors of Joey Gazelle. Oleg steals a gun Joey neglected to dispose and uses it to shoot his abusive, meth-addicted stepfather, but only wounds him. He runs away after the shooting, causing Joey to give chase in an effort to retrieve the gun before the police do. - Vera FarmigaVera FarmigaVera Ann Farmiga is an American actress and director. Farmiga made her film debut in the 1998 drama thriller Return to Paradise. This was followed by supporting roles in the 2000 romantic film Autumn in New York and the 2001 television series UC: Undercover...
as Teresa Gazelle: Wife of Joey Gazelle. Tries not to react to, or worry about Joey's job. Comes off as weak and defenseless but proves she can handle herself when she shoots two pedophiles while attempting to find and rescue Oleg. - Alex NeubergerAlex NeubergerAlexander James Neuberger is an American actor.Alex Neuberger was born in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. His first role was in the 2006 film, Running Scared, a thriller starring Paul Walker. Neuberger plays "Nicky Gazelle", the son of Walker's character...
as Nick "Nicky" Gazelle: The son of Joey and Teresa Gazelle. Best friends with next door neighbor Oleg. After the shooting of Ivan he is not seen that much if at all until the end scene where they fake Joey's funeral. He and Oleg become brothers at the end of the movie. - Ivana MiličevićIvana Milicevic-Early life:Miličević was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Croatian family, the daughter of Tonka, a homemaker, and Damir Miličević, a slaughterhouse worker and entrepreneur. She emigrated to the United States at the age of five and was raised in Michigan...
as Mila Yugorsky: Oleg's mother. She was a prostitute in Moscow and conceived Oleg there. She takes a job to be a prostitute in America in exchange for $50,000 (to be paid through her earnings). When the Russian mafia found out that she is pregnant, they sent Anzor to kill her; however, Anzor married her in order to protect her life. Mila ultimately commits suicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by blowing herself up. - Johnny Messner as Tommy "Tombs" Perello: The sadistic son of mob boss Frankie Perello. After Tommy shoots dead a dirty cop during a failed drug deal, he charges Joey with disposing of the murder weapon. He takes pleasure in harassing and threatening Joey after learning that Joey failed to dispose of the gun and lost it to Oleg. He is gunned down by Yugorsky's henchmen during the final showdown after a failed attempt to kill Joey.
- Chazz PalminteriChazz PalminteriCalogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....
as Rydell: A corrupt police officer who led a failed attack on the Perello mob during a drug bust, which resulted in the deaths of two of his partners. After he blackmails the Perellos for their role in the shooting, the Perellos deliver him a bag laden with explosives in place of the cash he demanded, and Rydell is killed when the bomb is detonated remotely with a cell phone. - Michael CudlitzMichael CudlitzMichael Cudlitz is an American actor. He can be seen in the TNT drama Southland, starring as John Cooper, and the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers as Sgt. Denver "Bull" Randleman.-Life and career:...
as Sal "Gummy Bear" Franzone: One of the henchmen for the Perellos. Tommy shoots him upon suspecting him of betrayal. - Bruce AltmanBruce AltmanBruce Altman is an American film and television actor. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.-Film:*Regarding Henry - Bruce*My New Gun - Irwin Bloom*Glengarry Glen Ross - Larry Spannel...
and Elizabeth MitchellElizabeth MitchellElizabeth Mitchell , is an American actress/modelwho is known for her roles as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC's TV series Lost and as FBI agent Erica Evans on V. She has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Gia.-Early life:Mitchell was born Elizabeth...
as Dez and Edele Hansel: A suburban couple who take Oleg in while he is on the run. They appear at first to be good, kind-hearted people, but they are revealed to be a pair of pedophilePedophiliaAs a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
serial killerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
s who lure children into their apartments to molest, tortureTortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and killKILLKILL is the sixth album by Detroit rock band Electric Six.In initial press releases, the band described the album as being a return to a sound more akin to their debut album, but this was later revealed by front-man Dick Valentine to be more gimmick than truth.An explicit video was released for...
them. Their surname is derived from the story Hansel and GretelHansel and Gretel"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...
, and they call each other "mama bear" and "papa bear", respectively. Their killing spree is eventually discovered by Teresa as she rescues Oleg from them, and she shoots both of them dead. - Arthur J. NascarellaArthur J. NascarellaArthur J. Nascarella is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of films, most often playing a mobster or police officer. Among his notable film credits include a corrupt cop in Cop Land , a hypocritical ambulance captain in Bringing Out The Dead and a fed-up casino boss in The Cooler; he has...
as Frankie Perello: The head of the Italian mob and father of Tommy 'Tombs' Perello. He is ultimately killed by Joey Gazelle when he attempts to shoot Oleg at the film's climaxClimax (narrative)The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...
. - Karel RodenKarel RodenKarel Roden is a Czech actor, known for his roles in Hellboy and The Bourne Supremacy.Roden's father and grandfather were also actors. After studying theatrical art in Prague he has played many roles in theatres and movies. First, he graduated school of ceramic, then he was admitted to the Academy...
as Anzor Yugorsky: Russian immigrant who married Mila to protect her. Has a childhood idol in John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
and his movies, often finding strength and determination to go on when things seem impossible. He regularly beats his stepson and wife, and his shooting at the hands of Oleg triggers the events of the night. He is executed by his uncle when he refuses to kill Oleg. - John NobleJohn NobleJohn Noble is an Australian film and television actor, and theater director of more than 80 plays. He was born in Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia and is currently starring as scientist Walter Bishop in the J. J. Abrams television series Fringe.He made occasional appearances on the...
as Ivan Yugorsky: The head of a ruthless Russian mob and uncle to Anzor Yugorsky. He is clinching a major gas deal with the Perellos until Joey frames the Perellos with betrayal during the film's climax. He is shot dead by Frankie with a shotgun after having killed Frankie's son Tommy. - David WarshofskyDavid WarshofskyDavid Warshofsky is an American film and television actor.-Life and career:Warshofsky was born in Saratoga, California. There is some dispute about this. Other sources, some self-contradictory, have listed his place and date of birth as San Francisco in 1961 or 1959, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and...
as Lester: The cruel pimp that ultimately ends up with the gun after he buys it from a car mechanic. He shoots Joey when he tries to protect Oleg from danger at the film's end. Lester is representative of the "Mad HatterMad HatterHatta, the Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll...
". In his final moments, Joey stabs Lester with a switchbladeSwitchbladeA switchblade is a type of knife with a folding or sliding blade contained in the handle which is opened automatically by a spring when a button, lever, or switch on the handle or bolster is activated A switchblade (also known as an automatic knife, pushbutton knife, switch, Sprenger, Springer,...
. - Idalis DeLeonIdalis DeLeonIdalis DeLeón is an American actress, singer, and television host.-Biography:DeLeón, who is of Puerto Rican ancestry, first began her career as a member of the girl group Seduction who scored a top ten hit "Two to Make it Right" in 1990. From 1994 to 1997, she was a MTV VJ...
as Divina: A kind-hearted prostitute. After Oleg saves her from Lester she in turn helps get Oleg a new inhaler and buys him dinner at the diner. Divina almost takes him back home with her before the two are picked up by the police. She is representative of "The Blue Fairy"
Critical reception
Running Scared opened with $3,381,974 on 1611 screens ($2,099 per a theater average) It currently holds a 39% "Rotten" on film review site Rotten Tomatoes. The general consensus on said site is that, "This film runs with frenetic energy punctuated by gratuitous violence but sorely lacks in plot, character development and stylistic flair." The film holds an average of 41 out of 100 based on 30 reviews on another film review site MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
Justin Chang of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
described Whitaker's cinematography, which primarily used Steadicam and crane shots, as "[dazzling] with a desaturated palette that nevertheless has a rich, grimy luster". He also noted the film had an odd plot, which was disarming given it was shot in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
rather than somewhere that looks closer to New Jersey. Sam Wigley of Sight and Sound said the vicious gangland depicted in the film resembles an "iniquitous fairytale realm", although it is dark, and "passes in a vertiginous blur of comic-book hyper-reality".