A former soldier and his unlikely partner become the targets of a ruthless cartel while racing to complete a critical medical delivery and save the life of a little girl. (from IMDb)

Angel Studios is becoming a force to reckoned with in Hollywood. They produce their own movies, but lately they've been distributing movies more and more. This may mean more caution will need to be exhibited when considering a title with the Angel branding attached to it. For example, the action thriller Runner might sound fluffier because of the Angel Studios name, but the truth is - it's rougher than many PG-13 action films today.

Personally, I still adhere to my self-imposed boundary of not watching unedited R-rated movies, so a service like VidAngel (no affiliation to Angel Studios, actually) is a godsend because I can watch select R-rated movies and TV-MA shows with significant editing. Runner, at times, feels like you're watching an edited R-rated movie - especially during the last act. Like last month's The End of Oak Street, the movie may have you wondering how on earth it secured a PG-13 MPAA rating, but I suppose it still just manages to squeak by under the banner.

The movie stars Reacher's Alan Ritchson (That's actually a TV-MA show I can watch, thanks to VidAngel) in a very Jack Reacher-ish role, as he plays Hank Malone, a former Navy Seal who is doing jobs as sort of a delivery guy for legal - and sometimes illegal - items. When he becomes the courier for a liver transplant to save a little girl's life, the local drug cartel also becomes interested in the package, and Hank is forced to use all of his fighting skills to keep the package secure.

Unexpectedly to Hank, Owen Wilson's Ben Bishop is part of the delivery package, serving as the handler for the locked box containing the valuable organ. Wilson is back to his classic, talkative, funny and charming self as Ben, and easily the brightest spot in an otherwise edgy action thriller. I wouldn't quite call this a buddy comedy, but the DNA is there, and his presence in the story does help Hank's loner personality. He's not entirely "lost" when the story begins, but he is a divorced, recovering alcoholic who could use a win. The pair kind of have that "cheery-and-talkative meets quietly-brooding" dynamic that is often found in buddy action comedies. I kept thinking this is the kind of movie Dwayne Johnson would have starred in 15 to 20 years ago. It has that early-to-mid 2000's vibe, but not in a bad way. While not as quirky, I kept thinking of movies like The Rundown, Live Free or Die Hard, or if we went more serious and less funny, 16 Blocks. For the most part, the dynamic works really well here, and the throwback feel of it is what makes the movie work really well.

Still, it almost gets completely derailed in the last act. Without spoiling anything, the movie just goes all-out, swinging for the fences -- and then some. The craziness doesn't exactly ruin the film for me, but it does weaken it. It also takes a surprise turn that's kind of disappointing. Still, in the end, it's a fairly decent throwback movie; they don't really make 'em like this anymore.

Again, the content is pretty rough overall. Pretty early on, the villain Damián Zaldívar (played by Rodrigo Santoro - who I recognized as Paulo from LOST, but does a commendable job here) shoots a character in the face off screen to establish him as a loose cannon, and I was surprised by the brutality. Some other scenes show characters shot off screen, or in the dark, and then we see their crumpled bodies on the ground. As the action progresses, the body count gets much higher, and both Hank and Ben get pretty beaten up and a bit bloodied. Later, a lot of bad guys take bullets and shotgun shells to the chest, which is largely not shown, but we see their bodies flying across the room or into things. A character's bloody bullet wound is focused on in a couple scenes, but the exact details of the wound aren't especially graphic, despite the significant amount of blood. The final action scene is an intense brawl with some innocent bystanders getting shot (with a little blood), characters getting very bloodied up (which appears more dark, almost like oil than actual blood?) and a character's back is impaled on a blade sticking out of a wall. At one point, a woman attacks a bad guy and is then choked and thrown so her head hits the wall, knocking her out (she survives though), and a child is threatened to be murdered. Overall, it's a very intense action movie - especially for PG-13. Language isn't too frequent, but there are a few uses of the "S" word and some other curse words. (Some notes on IMDb suggest a more violent and profane edit exists in some countries.)

The Angel Studios branding seems to suggest most titles attached to it are family friendly, but Runner most certainly is not. While there is a strong theme about a mother wanting to do anything to protect and save her child, Angel uses that as a selling point for the film. Many of their films promote a "pay it forward" approach where viewers, following the film, can scan a QR code and donate money so someone can also see the film. It's an idea that usually makes sense for films with a strong spiritual message, so it seemed almost comedic that the "pay it forward" message at the end was to gift a viewing of the film to a mom who might like to see the movie. Um... Sure, I do believe there are action movie loving moms out there (after all, my wife did enjoy this one, too), but its brutality makes it seem unlikely to be the kind of movie you'd want to treat a mom to. "Here's a ticket to a movie where the guy who plays Reacher beats the snot out of violent drug cartel members for 90 minutes." It's not exactly Sleepless in Seattle.

If you're looking for a decent action movie to zone out to, or are a fan of Ritchson or Wilson, Runner may be just what you're itching for. It's not amazing, but it's got enough of that classic beat-em-up buddy action movie DNA to make it worth a watch.

- John DiBiase (reviewed: 9/23/26)