Alan Ritchson brings the muscle, Owen Wilson brings the chatter, and Runner delivers enough vehicular destruction to make a defensive-driving instructor weep. Scott Waugh directs this action comedy, which keeps its premise simple and its leads exceedingly busy. The mayhem has little substance, but I found plenty of excitement in watching this unlikely pair attempt a very complicated delivery.
Ritchson plays Hank Malone, a former soldier turned courier who teams up with organ transplant manager Ben Bishop (Wilson) to deliver a donor liver to a critically ill girl. What should be a straightforward trip turns into a running battle when a cartel sets its sights on their precious cargo. With time slipping away and heavily armed pursuers closing in, Hank and Ben must keep themselves and the organ intact long enough to reach the hospital.
Their competing needs raise the stakes. Kate Baker (Leila George) desperately wants the transplant to save her daughter, while Damián Zaldívar (Rodrigo Santoro) intends to claim it for his mother, a cartel boss. Both are trying to save someone they love, but Damián has an army of violent men to enforce his priorities. His determination turns an urgent medical delivery into a small war.
Santoro deserves considerable credit for making Damián so thoroughly despicable. He plays the villain with such conviction that audiences will have ample reason to loathe him, and I mean that as a compliment to the performance. His cruelty makes it easy to root against him. Backed by a collection of creepy, vicious henchmen, he poses a threat Hank and Ben will want to escape—and gives the audience someone worth hoping for: someone who gets exactly what he deserves.
Ritchson is a hunk of an action hero, with the physical presence that makes Hank’s ability to withstand punishment seem almost reasonable. He fits comfortably into the role of the man expected to fight, drive, and somehow keep the mission moving despite increasingly outrageous obstacles. His imposing build does some of the work, but his seriousness also gives Wilson something entertaining to bounce off. Their contrasting personalities help carry a story that otherwise offers few surprises.
Wilson is in true form as Ben: annoyingly delightful and seemingly incapable of making a dangerous situation any quieter. His familiar delivery offers welcome comic relief between the collisions and gunfire. Ben is the kind of companion who could make a stressful drive feel much longer, yet Wilson makes time with him enjoyable. Paired with Ritchson’s more direct approach to survival, Wilson’s nervous energy gives the film much of its personality.
Waugh keeps the action coming with wild chases, spectacular crashes, explosive shootouts, and encounters with men who clearly have no interest in resolving anything peacefully. The escalating destruction becomes part of the fun, even when the plot’s machinery is easy to see. Another obstacle always stands between the couriers and their destination, and the film gets considerable mileage from making that distance as hazardous as possible. Subtlety would probably be run over before it reached the next intersection.
The screenplay, by Miles Hubley and Tommy White, gives the characters an immediate goal and largely lets the action take over. The child awaiting surgery gives the delivery a reason to matter, but the film does little to develop its competing family loyalties into anything particularly substantial. I wanted the good guys to succeed without feeling the story had much more to offer beyond that outcome. Fortunately, the leads make the journey entertaining enough to sustain it.
Runner is an uncomplicated action comedy powered by a likable pairing and an enthusiastic commitment to destruction. Ritchson handles the bruising heroics, Wilson keeps the mood from becoming relentlessly grim, and Santoro makes being hated look like a job he thoroughly enjoys. The story may be thin, but the excitement is plentiful. Runner is available to stream with an Angel subscription and to rent on Prime Video.