‘Runner’ Review: Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson Lend Some Personality to a Good-Enough Action Thriller

Are movie stars okay? Between the recent explosion of celebrity spokesperson roles (such as Ben Affleck finally doing Aflac commercials) and a steady growth in star-driven straight-to-streaming fare, actors the general public would consider “successful” seem to be hustling for work — any work — harder than ever. Owen Wilson, for example, has recently appeared in a big-budget Disney movie (“Haunted Mansion”), played a high-profile character within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is soon set to return to his scene-stealing role in the “Fockers” franchise. So why is he in Angel Studios’ “Runner?”

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Truth be told, Scott Waugh’s action thriller, co-starring Alan Ritchson (“Reacher”), is actually pretty entertaining, with the good sense to clock in at an efficient 98 minutes. But there’s something dispiriting about the middle-tier existence of a skillful meat-and-potatoes crowdpleaser like this, which is neither polished enough to hold up against proper studio fare, nor scrappy enough to thrive as Roger Corman-style exploitation. Supported by Waugh’s muscular direction, Wilson and Ritchson work well together in a chase film whose thinly sketched premise barely sustains its wall-to-wall action sequences.

Ritchson plays Hank Malone, a “big American war hero” turned courier in Brisbane, Australia who just collected his AA coin for a year of sobriety and is teaching himself French in his late daughter’s honor. When his employer gives him a short-term job, picking up a donated liver being transported from the U.S., Hank gets more than he bargained for when the organ shows up under the arm of Ben Bishop (Wilson), a chatty messenger determined to accompany it to its final destination.

With a limited amount of time before the organ loses its viability, Ben directs Hank to drive directly to a Gold Coast hospital about an hour away, where anxious mother Kate (Leila George) awaits the liver for her sick daughter Ellie (Scarlett Crabtree). But after spotting a motorcade of black-clad vehicles creeping through city traffic after their car, Hank gathers that another party that considers the organ valuable. What he soon discovers is that the other party is led by Damian Zaldívar (Rodrigo Santoro), the ruthless son of a drug lord (Cecilia Toussaint) who also needs the liver to stay alive, and has instructed Damian to kill anyone who interferes with him obtaining it.

Starring and co-produced by Ritchson, “Runner” is really a showcase for him, a talented actor with real screen presence who hasn’t demonstrated a ton of versatility, but has been on the cusp of stardom for several years. This doesn’t feel likely to bump him up to the big leagues — it barely feels like a movie made for theaters — but the most complimentary comparison to make is that it feels like his version of “The Rundown,” Dwayne Johnson’s underappreciated 2003 star vehicle from when he was still The Rock. In both cases, the characters at least initially try to avoid violence, and harbor aspirations more personal than pummelling opponents ad nauseam. Even without a tearful backstory that parallels the circumstances of Hank’s current assignment with an almost cartoonish precision, Ritchson makes Hank likable with a performance that’s thoughtful, human and drily funny.

Opposite Ritchson in full “butterscotch stallion” mode is Wilson, testing Ben’s likability with a motor-mouthed performance he’s given a few dozen times. Whether the actor is improvising or sticking closely to the script by Miles Hubley and Tommy White, Wilson’s talent and experience maintain the charm of a character who practically talks nonstop but in other hands could simply be obnoxious. In the buddy-movie “action guy-funny guy” formula, Wilson makes Ritchson’s half of that balance a little less lopsided, enabling the audience to enjoy the duo’s frantic, noble determination to deliver the organ, even amidst chaotic violence that will likely be the reason that many see the film.

Waugh, named a 2012 Director to Watch by Variety, last helmed the dismal “Expend4bles.” He redeems himself with this project, perhaps because he’s serving the needs of only two main actors and not a smorgasbord of stars, but he’s clear in delivering what this film needs to accomplish. Sure, it’s simplistic and frequently silly, but most of the laughs are intentional, and the action is sturdy and exciting.

Even so, you feel like corners have been cut. Is this the first production in history unable to license “Spirit in the Sky”? Norman Greenbaum’s ubiquitous 1969 single isn’t the only song replaced by a cover or soundalike. The setting of Brisbane serves no purpose other than to highlight what must have been significant tax incentives. And the moving backgrounds outside the windows of every conveyance on screen needed at least one more visual effects pass. Sadly, that’s the stuff that makes all the good work done elsewhere seem chintzy or inadequate.

Perhaps ironically, the actors are clearly having fun, which can elevate even the cheapest-looking entertainment to classic status. This clunky vehicle doesn’t transcend its limitations — Wilson and Ritchson’s efforts are the duct tape holding it together — but it’s much better than anyone could have expected. It even makes you want to see them together on screen again in something a bit slicker and more sophisticated. That’s probably the opposite feeling that the film’s producers would like to elicit, but “Runner” is precisely the kind of for-hire work that proves its stars deserve better.