Run & Jump (2014)

Run 8 Jump is a great movie with a well written plot and a top notch cast. It's a sweet, enlightening and somewhat heartbreaking film, dealing with some very serious issues of family as the people here undergo some harsh times. It is also a film about realisation, of people seeing where they stand in this world. We see this mainly in Vanetia, who is a very developed, strong female character. My main issue with this film would actually be the way it was advertised, as the tone is completely different. The advertisements made this look like a very happy, feel good film with a bit of drama, whereas it has significantly more weight and heavier undertones than we ever would have gotten from those trailers. The cast is stellar, Maxine Peake shines in the lead role, clearly having put a lot of depth and thought in to her character. Will Forte is also fantastic in a very unlikely turn for him, well known for his Saturday Night Live sketches, I would never have pictured him in such a toned down, very human role, and he is spectacular in it. Every cast member gets a chance to shine in this film. Edward MacLiam has some great, hard hitting moments and even the child stars have some rough dialogue that they deliver with pure emotion, particularly Brendan Morris, who plays Peake's son in the movie, coming to terms with the situation his parents are in. It is very real, there is really no "movie clichés" here, it's a drama about human issues. Dramatic, well acted and very engrossing, Run & Jump is certainly worth the watch for anyone looking for a good drama. An American doctor travels to study a family following their fathers stroke. Best Performance: Maxine Peake

Furniture maker Conor Casey had a stroke and struggles with disturbing behaviors. He goes home with his wife Vanetia, two kids and American neuroscientist Ted Fielding (Will Forte) who is documenting Conor for the next two months. Ted doesn't expect any improvements and Vanetia isn't happy with his presence initially. The son Lenny is getting teased at school as gay. Conor's father is angry at his dysfunction.There are some interesting family struggles. However, only Maxine Peake seems to have the opportunity to do some big acting. The rest are fine but not really allowed to have their moments. Even when the characters have their various blow-ups, it is mostly quietly observed. It doesn't try to overdramatize but I think it needs to have that energy. It doesn't really have enough cinematic tension.

While you're waiting for Netflix to stream the last two seasons of "Silk,"* you may want to take a look at this intriguing indie. Maxine Peake gives a fine, energetic performance as Vanetia Casey, a beleaguered housewife in County Kerry, a long way from the Inns of Court. The setup may seem a little contrived—Vanetia's husband, Conor, is a stroke survivor whose recovery's being monitored by an American brain researcher, Ted (Will Forte), who's camped out in their teenage son's bedroom—but the plot starts ticking over as Ted, played as a standoffish nerd at first, loosens up and starts to bond with mother and son. Edward MacLiam gives a convincing performance as Conor, a volatile wild child who's entranced by the animals in a petting zoo but taunts his son with homophobic slurs; Conor's parents turn up in a couple of scenes as reminders of the old, unforgiving Ireland that we're familiar with from films like "Philomena." (If the script has a fault, it's that these intergenerational conflicts seem a little cut and dried.) That's a lot to pack into 106 minutes, but Vanetia and Ted's grass-fed (wait for it!), flirtatious friendship is pretty delightful and saves the film from being just another grim indie study of family conflict. Great locations, great music, from the Magnetic Fields to a haunting Irish lament.* After more than two years, still only available on Blu-ray or as an expensive rental on Amazon… Gobshites! [01/07/17]

The other reviews already described it: It's an artsy, independent, European movie. If you liked sunshine cleaning, Juno and/or little miss sunshine, you'll probably like this one too, although it has no comic scenes in it. And you won't see the hard stuff of brain-seizures, so it's a family-friendly movie. But what really, really bugged me was the catholic, conservative, misogynistic ending. Off course there was no room to even think about staying altogether, off course there had to be a decision made and also off course it had to be made without the handicapped, but for him. And off course the woman is happy to relinquish, because that's the way they are.I find this very sad, because all of the (state) money for the movie is wasted, if you're not able to make a movie that challenges the audience to dream or think in a new way or question their way of thinking. A solution would have been an open end, but that was also not done here. With this ending it's more of a cheesy lifetime-movie...