Bruce Campbell is a good actor. His career has mostly underutilized him. Most of his roles are pale versions of Evil Dead’s Ash. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ash. However, I think he works best when he is allowed to dig into his sardonic and dramatic chops. Elvis Prestly in Bubba Ho Tep, for instance, is a career best. Not far off is this mostly unseen indie from 1997, Josh Becker‘s Running Time, in which he plays a habitual criminal with heart, Carl Matushka.
Running Time, was inspired by Hitchcock’s Rope, and is filmed as one continuous shot. This, as the Blu Ray cover boasts, was “over twenty years before Sam Mendes 1917”. Now, I hate to burst your bubble, but all films that make that statement simply are not. This goes 10 fold for Running Time, as it was shot on film, and a film reel is only 10-11 minutes. The “one shot” illusion is created by clever, seamless edits like seen in Iñárritu’s Birdman, Curan’s Children of Men, etc. I have never been too hot on the “real time” movie experience. However, I commend Writer/Director Josh Becker for taking the gimmick an extra step and incorporating a reason for doing so.
How so? By making the film about a predetermined heist in which we, the audience, are put right in the middle of. Every decision the team of criminals make must line up with the ticking of a clock or they will be caught. And another stint in prison is the last thing these men are going to accept, no matter how wrong the plan goes.
The heist involved is centered around the prison itself. The prison has the front of a dry cleaning business that charges full price, of which is given to the inmates to do for pennies. Every few months, there is a large cash exchange, in which the Jail Warden Emmet E Walton (Art LaFleur) picks up the deposit from a middle man. Carl’s prison release date happens to be this very day.
Right from the second he is out of the prison gates, Carl is met by his former partner in crime, Patrick (Jeremy Roberts) and the plan is in motion. In the rear of Patrick’s recently acquired delivery truck, Carl is met by a prostitute. Carl was in the joint for a very long time, after all. To his surprise, the prostitute is none other than his former high school fling Janie Kotanski (Anita Barone). The two were quite fond of each other, that is, before Carl dumped her. This seems to be a sore spot for both of them. Carl is quite sincere when he says he’d like to see Janie again. Janie accepts.
Soon after, Patrick picks up the other participants in the heist, including an old friend and excellent safecracker, Buzz (William Stanford Davis). Much to Carl’s apprehension, Patrick has also enlisted the help of a junkie named Donnie (Gordon Jennison Noice) as the getaway driver. Donnie is clearly not in a good state. That is not where you want a junkie to be. Carl can see where this is going, and wants out. But Patrick knows all the right buttons to push with Carl. Despite all the signs from God to turn back now, including flat tires, mixed up information, and junkies, Carl pushes on with the job.
At 70 minutes, including credits, Running Time is brisk. Revealing any more about the plot would be an injustice.
I watched Becker’s film in the early 2000’s. At the time, I liked it, but I didn’t think much more than that. Watching it again, I’m reminded of how much I enjoy the true independent film of the era. It’s quite different today, as even the most amateur filmmaker can post to YouTube. If you jump back 15 years ago, the story was quite different. Filmmakers made movies, and they hopefully played festivals, and if they didn’t get distribution… POOF! Gone. Except by those who may have caught it at a festival.
With a fleeting presence, indie filmmakers really used to put their all into a picture. Robert Rodriguez, Quinten Tarantino, and Richard Linklater all had early success in this realm. Unfortunately, we only remember the big names. Becker, among many others, was hardly seen after the 90s. It’s a shame. He is talented.
Becker orchestrates a great cast, all performing at their best. As the film’s writer, ending of the film, without giving it away, is particularly winning, and does so without the overt cynicism that you typically see in independent film.
Despite a great festival run, Running Time was hardly released. The only available version before now was an out-of-print VHS.
What works least for me is the heist itself. Due to the real time approach to the film, Becker fills up every moment of the film with fast dialogue and camerawork. However, during the heist, the players are too eager to tell personal details and bicker about childish things. I just don’t buy it. They come off completely buffoonish, and they are supposed to be professionals. I am certain that if Becker changed to a disquieting pace, for just that one scene, the film would be a classic indie. Everything else is on point, just this one segment is off.
If you haven’t seen Running Time, now is the perfect time. Synapse Films remastered the original film negative with a 2K scan that’s simply gorgeous. Also included in the release: a new interview with Bruce Campbell (quite entertaining); and a new audio commentary by Campbell and Becker. I particularly loved the commentary as it was a great class on independent filmmaking, and hilarious.
Simply put, the Running Time Special Edition is one of my favorite releases of 2021.
Synapse Films Remastered Running Time will be release March 16th.
You can preorder direct here
Amazon.com link here
