On The Run

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: D     Film: B-

 

 

So many independent films that are worth seeing do not get the chance they deserve, but one that has suddenly become more interesting is Bruno De Almeida’s On The Run (1999).  One reason is that the Joseph Minion-scripted is not the most politically-correct work, especially being written a few years before 9/11, but the other reason is the increased profile of its two leads.

 

At the time, The Sopranos was just picking up momentum in becoming the TV classic it now is, but it was still a surprise at the time.  Michael Imperioli and John Ventimiglia play the adult versions of childhood friends who have not seen each other for thirty years.  Albert (Imperioli) is a well-mannered, if sometimes too mild-mannered-for-his-own-good travel salesman who has a peaceful life.  He is not necessarily happy with this life, but he is at peace.  That is until he gets a call from Louie.

 

Louie (Ventimiglia) wants to be friends again, calling Albert out of nowhere, but as Al’s instincts tell him (which he ignores,) it is not that simple.  Louie has just got out of prison, three weeks too early on his own as a matter of fact, bored with his five-year stretch so much that he does not care that he has ruined his future.  Instead, he intends to combine a night of partying with a touch of reliving his childhood, and taking advantage of his “long lost friend” which challenges Albert.  As a matter of fact, it is a case of the return of the repressed for Albert with bad feeling about what kind of friend Louie was not when they were kids.

 

The acting and chemistry is good between he leads, mixing the right measures of comic timing, authentic behavior (ethnic and otherwise,) and seriousness to keep both characters grounded in reality just enough to wart off predictability problems in the screenplay.  Director De Almeida juggles all of this very well, and though the film doe not manage to exceed the limits of its writing, it is definitely worth a look.

 

The letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image is an analog transfer, but fares well enough with consistent color on a certain level, and no major video black or red problems.  Cinematographer Igor Sunara has caught some of the last great pre-9/11/01 shots of New York City we will ever see again, helped by the charisma of his stars going to locations that show off the character of the city, though it was changing even then as a joke in the film points out.  Like Las Vegas, the seediness was being “cleansed-out” by sweeping corporate investment.  The credits list the film as Dolby Digital, but this is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with some Pro Logic surround, but the dialogue and even some sound effects are far too stuck in the center channel.  The only extra is the original theatrical trailer.

 

As is the case with so many films that try to say they offer something new, we get the now clichéd “night that will change their lives forever” spiel that none of these films could ever hope to deliver.  Sometimes, this requires making the characters really stupid, but On The Run dodges this by having Imperioli’s character convincingly being taken off-guard by mixed feelings which are already stirring up in the opening sequence where a travel client gets too pushy.  This is a very talented character actor who can do leads and may be seeing his best days ahead of him yet, despite being in David Chase’s Gangster phenomenon.

 

Imperioli and Ventimiglia are remarkably on each other’s wavelength, which you do not see very often in any TV or motion picture offerings these days.  After seeing this, we can only hope they will reteam for another project outside of this and their hit TV show.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo