Product: Run, Lola, Run [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 5.0
Run for your life
Two lovers are caught in a bad situation to say the least, Manni (Moritz Blebibtreu) calls his girlfriend Lola (Franka Potente, "Blow") and says he's gonna be killed by a mob boss if he doesn't come up with 100,000 marks very soon (20 minutes in fact). He begs Lola for help and says if she can't help him he's going to rob a supermarket to get the money to save his life. Panicked and frantic Lola takes off running out of her apartment to help Manni, what follows is 3 different showings of Lola's sprint to save Manni by getting this money.Each situation shows how little things can either delay or help someone get somewhere faster, like not tripping over someone on a sidewalk, catching a casino at just the right time to gamble and win said money, so okay its more like just a game of chance and with her boyfriends impending death Lola feels the compulsion to do whatever she can to help. Each showing of her run has little differences to it and the first two don't end well for obvious reason (what need would there be to show the next one if the first or second one ends with everyone happy).Between the pursuits are some drama scenes with Manni and Lola talking that are decent but the film really shines during the running scenes. There's a pulse-pounding German techno soundtrack during most of the movie which does get the adrenaline pumping and I personally enjoyed looking at Franka as she's quite stunning and gives a good performance here (though she would go on to do better movies after this).This flick is a perfect example though of style over substance and the 81 minute running time is just right as any more would've made the experience tiring in my opinion. If it was rated on plot it wouldn't score much above average, but as a fun and fast film its quite entertaining and thats all this movie could've hoped to be. ***1/2 out of 4 stars, simply as a fun experience.