In his review of Tom Tykwer's Run Lola Run, noted critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote that it was "about as entertaining as a no-brainer can be--a lot more fun, for my money, than a cornball theme-park ride like "Speed," and every bit as fast moving. But don't expect much of an aftertaste." But I disagree with my esteemed colleague. Run Lola Run is indeed a frenetic thrill-ride of visual fireworks and stylistic audacity. But here is a film that earnestly tries to explore themes of determinism, causality, and compatibilism without disappearing into a quagmire of philosophical naval-gazing. When young Lola (Franka Potente) receives a frantic phone-call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) with a message that if he doesn't get 100,000 marks in twenty minutes he will be killed by his crime boss, she takes to the streets to try and gather the money and reach him in time before he robs a supermarket in a last ditch attempt to secure the needed funds. Lola's journey is repeated three successive times with minor details: in the first she tries to get the money from her wealthy father, in the second she robs a bank, and in the third she bets all of her money at a casino. Tykwer's point is that miniscule differences between the runs such as stumbling into a baby carriage on the way to the bank or getting attacked by a dog in her apartment complex result in radically different outcomes. Tykwer frequently gives us snapshot montages of the futures of the people Lola encounters during each run and how their lives radically change depending on how they briefly interact. One woman in particular is provided with a different future for each run: having her baby taken away by social services, winning the lottery, and experiencing a religious conversion. Run Lola Run is that most precious of treasures: a thinking person's entertainment.
8/10
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