Sci-Fi September: Runaway (1984)

Michael Crichton was, from my limited exposure to his work, quite a brilliant mind. As a writer, he developed stories around core ideas that would predate their implementation and/or development in our real world. In the world of sci-fi, I'd mark him out as being just as prescient as any other leading name that you could throw in to the hat. He may have been simply competent as a director, but I think that was more a case of the tech never really being up to the speed of his visionary imagination. As is the case with Runaway.

Tom Selleck is a cop in the near future who specialises in dealing with runaway robots. It's such a big problem, for example, that he's flown by helicopter just to deal with a runaway farming robot that is not doing anyone any immediate harm. Selleck inhabits a world in which his priorities are his son (Joey Cramer), his job, and the need to mention his vertigo in a way that allows viewers to figure out where the finale might head. He's just been given a new partner (Cynthia Rhodes) in time to deal with a disturbing case - there's a bad man (Gene Simmons) trying to fit all robots with implants that would allow them to break their programming and kill lots of people.

Slightly hampered by the special effects available at the time, and also the fact that it's often hard to get all excited about, Runaway remains a lot of fun, despite the obvious flaws. It has robo-spiders, bullets that can trace individual targets, and Tom Selleck being his usual, charming self.

A number of scenes feel a bit flat, with Crichton highlighting the fact that he's a solid, not great, director. He can't do enough to liven up the moments that surround the few set-pieces, with domestic situations and the standard police procedural stuff making up the majority of the runtime.

The cast do their best with their characters. Selleck gets by simply by being his usual Selleck-ness, which has been good enough in pretty much anything he's ever done. Rhodes is a decent partner for him, Cramer is an acceptable cinematic moppet, and Stan Shaw and G. W. Bailey lend decent support in the police station environment. Kirstie Alley also makes a good impression, as a potential victim that the police (well, Selleck and Rhodes) are trying to keep alive. Simmons, on the other hand, is pretty awful, but he's awful in such an entertaining, over the top, way that it works for a villainous performance.

Very much a product of its time, I'll always have a soft spot for Runaway because I saw it at a young age, an age when I thought tracker bullets and robo-spiders were the coolest things ever. Admittedly, I've not matured much beyond that stage, so that may explain my enduring affection for the film. Or it might just remain an enjoyable slice of robo-hokum. Watch and decide for yourself.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Runaway-Tom-Selleck/dp/B00004TX5G/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1411202107&sr=1-1&keywords=runaway

Extract (2009)

Another enjoyable comedy written and directed by Mike Judge, this may be his weakest film to date but it's still a fun viewing experience thanks to a great cast working with a great script.

Jason Bateman plays Joel, the owner/manager of an Extract plant. All is going pretty well for Joel apart from the fact that he can't seem to get home before eight o'clock, which is the time that his wife (Kristen Wiig) puts her sweatpants on. Once the sweatpants are on, Joel gets nothing and he's a bit frustrated by his lack of sex life. When a work-related accident leads to loyal worker Step (Clifton Collins Jr.) losing one of his testicles, Joel finds himself the unwitting payday opportunity for Cindy (Mila Kunis), a thief who realises that she can engineer a meeting with Step before manipulating him into suing the company for more money. Meanwhile, Joel also makes the mistake of following the advice of his friend Dean (Ben Affleck) and hiring someone to seduce his wife, supposedly leaving his conscience clear to begin his own affair.

It may not be as brilliantly wired into the consciousness of all working Joes (a la Office Space) or full of the easy, big laughs of Idiocracy but this still deserves to be appreciated by anyone after comedy that aims higher than most.

Judge is a great talent behind the camera. There may not be too many tricks and flourishes onscreen but he does what's needed to keep things moving along and set up every scene full of that memorable dialogue.

Bateman is good in the main role, playing the kind of role that he can play in his sleep, and Kunis is believably cute and charming. It's easy to imagine her getting away with just what she gets away with. Wiig is also very good in an atypical role, as is Ben Affleck, playing someone slightly addled from a life centred around far too many drugs. Clifton Collins Jr. is a sweet enough "mark" and there is good support from J. K. Simmons, T. J. Miller, Betsy Palmer, Gene Simmons, David Koechner (also in a slightly atypical role, as a persistent and dull neighbour) and Matt Schulze.

All in all, Extract is well worth your time. By the time the end credits roll, there's nothing major to mull over but it's simply a nice, consistently amusing, character piece that won't disappoint.

7/10

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