Product: Run, Lola, Run [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 2.0
Stop Lola Stop
The meat of the movie is given away by the title. Be prepared to watch Lola do an awful lot of running...and then some more. American movie critics seem to have a fetish for any movie foreign. Don't believe the hype...the plot is not ingenious nor are the direction and production groundbreaking. The basic idea (Lola has to come up with 100,000 bucks and get it to her distressed boyfriend Manni in 20 minutes or he will be killed) would have made for an exciting short film, but instead is stretched into an agonizing almost feature length film. The same story plays out three times, with three different endings. The premise is interesting (not original): how little, insignificant events drastically change the outcome of people's lives. But the film spends too little time exploring the idea and WAY too much time showing Lola running. There is NO character development. We don't care if Manni or Lola or anyone else dies or lives. The viewer has no vested emotional interest in the characters (unless you're sympathetic towards whining punk drug dealers who forget their drug money on subways). Cartoon animation, interesting polaroid segments, and a relentless techno soundtrack are added in a desperate attempt to keep the viewer interested in watching Lola run all over town.I don't get how Lola changes many lives in this film. There are only a few polaroid sequences that are directly affected by her presence.Lola gets one star for being in excellent cardiovascular shape, and another star for some interesting pillow talk sequences that give the movie its only interesting substance. Its worth a rent just to see what people have been talking about (Of course we have forgotten Lola and now love Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon...Although that is a way better film.)