Running Out of Time (2018)

Movie Name/Year: Running Out of Time (2018)

Genre: Thriller

Length: 87 minutes

Rating: TV-14

Production/Distribution: Footage Films

Director: Chris Stokes

Writers: Chaz Echols, Marques Houston, Chris Stokes

Actors: Sean Dominic, Telma Hopkins, RonReaco Lee, Kearia Schroeder, Tasha Smith, Dustin Harnish, Sydney Elise Johnson, Paul Logan

Blurb from IMDb: Newly widowed Brenda Harper and her family are taken hostage over something from her late husband's past.

Cat’s Point of View:

I can’t quite tell if Rotten Tomatoes is having a hiccup, or if the Error 404 I got when searching this movie on their site was trying to tell me something. 

To be fair, Running Out of Time wasn’t horrible. I don’t think that my time spent watching was a waste, at least. I just wasn’t buying everything this film was trying to sell. A combination of issues damaged my ability to suspend disbelief.

I’ll call my first peeve ‘sudden fits of slow-mo.’ I suppose that the production team felt that it would make scenes feel more dramatic or even give it a more high-end action edge. Not everything needs ‘bullet time,’ though. I just didn’t feel it was necessary here and just took me out of those scenes a bit where I might have been a smidge more invested otherwise.

There were some glaring plot holes that I also just couldn’t get past. The plausibility of the story was compromised, as a result.

Lastly, there were a couple performances that were – off. I’m not so sure that it was something done on purpose, either. I’m not going to point fingers, though.

What I will do, however, is commend this movie’s attempt to create strong female characters that make choices to act rather than becoming defenseless puddles of victim. I was also jazzed to see the grandmother was played by Telma Hopkins (The Love Guru, Partners, Dead to Me). Family Matters (1989-1997) was a staple in my household while it was on the air.  

All told, this was a thriller that didn’t quite live up to the promise of its genre name. There are others more immersing that I would recommend instead.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None

Metascore – None

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score –4.1/10

CinemaScore – None

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2/5

Movie Trailer: