I Didn't Exactly "Run" to See This

I think the moment I first became aware of the movie Run Lola Run was when the television series Alias presented a major action sequence featuring its lead character in bright red hair, and the internet began buzzing with, "you know they're referencing Run Lola Run here, right?" Well, no, I hadn't known. But in the many years (decades) since, I've come upon "you know this is referencing Run Lola Run, right?" a rather surprising number of times.

Writer-director Tom Tykwer's German-language action-thriller has had a powerful influence on other entertainment creators. And at an 80 minute, ahem, run time, you'd think I'd have found time to watch it at some point before now. You might also think that when I finally did find time for it a few weeks ago, any surprises it might have had in store had long since been spoiled for me.

Not so. Perhaps all the talk about red hair was a lightning rod distracting from the most salient element of Run Lola Run: it's a bit science fiction. Well... at least as much as the classic comedy Groundhog Day is. Because we watch the titular protagonist live the same events multiple times over the course of the movie. Not in a Groundhog Day sort of way, actually; there's no real indication that anyone has memory of being in a "loop." Maybe more like the multiple endings of Clue, but it an "multiple back-to-back short films" sort of way?

The point actually seems to be a quiet commentary on the Butterfly effect (the phenomenon, not the movie), how one small alteration of one tiny detail can ripple out to cause big changes. Run Lola Run is one premise, three movies. I'd been expecting... a spy thriller? Maybe? Needless to say, I was blindsided in a way that actually entertained me.

Make no mistake, though: you absolutely get what the movie promises. Lola runs. A lot. Indeed, if you cut out the long sequences of the camera just lingering on the main character as she dashes from place to place, the 80 minute movie might actually sweat down to something like 70 minutes. Not that the movie would be better for it, though. Besides moments that highlight the "changing ripples" in each version of events, there's a surprising amount of character conveyed in these moments. That's part of what makes Franka Potente a strong lead actor for this film. And not only does she convey character without dialogue in some scenes, she's quite good in quieter, confrontational moments as well.

But there was a sort of "ceiling" on my enjoyment of the movie. I do think it's possible to pack an emotional punch in, say, a 25-minute short film... but Run Lola Run isn't really trying to do that in any of the three "films" here because it has larger aspirations with the "alternate universe" wrapper. Yet at the same time, it doesn't feel like it has much to say about the premise as a whole beyond, "isn't this interesting, the three different ways this could have gone down?" Well, sure -- it is entertaining. But I'm not quite sure there's a "there" there.

I'm glad I've finally seen Run Lola Run after all this time. I would even recommend it to most people I know, because I think it would align with their tastes. But if I were making movies or TV, I don't think it would have inspired me to the degree it seems to have inspired so many others. (Maybe that's why I'm not making movies or TV?) I give Run Lola Run a B.