Just last year, the lyrical genius of Bruce Springsteen inspired coming-of-age drama Blinded by the Light; now, The Boss’ music is once again fuelling British cinema – this time, with 1975 anthem ‘Born to Run’ laying the foundation for Scott Graham’s third feature: Scottish-drama Run.
Finnie (Mark Stanley)’s days of being a freedom-seeking boy driver are behind him; now he works in a fish factory, with two apprehensive sons and a relationship with his high-school sweetheart Katie (Amy Mason) that is fizzling out. Their matching tattoos read ‘born to run’, but their stilted lives say differently – stuck in Fraserburgh, and not looking to get out any time soon. When a particular night at home riles him up more than usual, Finnie takes his son’s car and looks to reminisce his youth as he joyrides through town – with his son’s pregnant girlfriend, Kelly (Marli Siu), along for the drive.
At 76 minutes, Graham keeps his script lean and mean. It’s drawn from experience – the writer/director also grew up in Fraserburgh – and it is, for better or worse, straight-to-the-point. The characters are minimal and the scope is limited to charting the chaotic 24 hours of the increasingly-restless Finnie. Keeping the focus reigned in offers a much more personal look into the turmoil our leading man is facing; he’s easy to relate to, for we’ve all probably hoped our lives would have gone differently in one way or another. His bottled contempt just comes out by careening through his small, dreich hometown. Technically, these scenes are impressive. They look great, and you’ll wonder how they managed to pull off some of these stunts as well as they did on such a small budget. It’s efficient, effective work.
The film is at its height in these scenes – when Kelly and Finnie share a night of race-hopping and chatting. Their disparate lives are bridged by their mutual loneliness; they’re in strained relationships, Kelly has lost her boyfriend and is possibly having to face motherhood alone whilst Finnie sees his own relationship all too well in hers. Their dialogue is melancholic but their friendship and understanding is sincere. Both Stanley and Siu give such assured turns here. You can feel their anguish and frustration through their limited words, making their dynamic effortless and watchable. A lacklustre finale lets the film down; naturally, Finnie’s escapism must come to an end but the fallout is barely skimmed over. Considering much has been made of how ‘forbidden’ this night is, the aftermath makes it almost inconsequential. Still, Graham packs a lot into his breezy 76-minute runtime and we get surprisingly invested in that short amount of time. Run is Ken Loach meets ‘Fast and Furious’ and with the expected verve from that summation. It may be a stifled cruise confined to the limited roads of a small Scottish town but, for Finnie, it’s slight drive turned nostalgic catharsis as he tears up the town as best he can and it’s gripping to watch.
Run was reviewed at GFF 2020 and will be released on 13th March.
