Premise - It's 11:40 in the morning and Lola (Franka Potente) has just taken a phone call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu). Manni is just back from a major drug deal, but he has lost the 100,000 marks from the deal on the subway train. Lola has twenty minutes to get to Manni before he robs a supermarket to get the cash that will stop his gang boss from killing him. Run Lola Run (or Lola Rennt to give the film its original German title) is an assault on the senses. Director Tom Tykwer bombards the viewer with a constant audio and visual barrage that makes the film a joy to watch. All sorts of technical jiggery pokery has been employed in the editing room to make Run Lola Run one of the (if not the) most stylish foreign films I've ever seen. Split screen, slow motion, animation, you name it Tykwer uses it. I must try and find Tykwer latest film 'The Princess And The Warrior' as his style alone suggests that he is a director to keep an eye on. All this eye candy is accompanied almost constantly by a thumping techno soundtrack that acts like the heartbeat of the movie. Whilst Lola is running (which is for the lion share of the movie) the beat is constant and fast, but when the running stops and the talking starts the beat slows and dissipates. But, you're thinking, 'If Lola only has twenty minutes to get to Manni, what happens in the rest of the film?'. Well, Tykwer has come up with a clever maguffin. The story is told three times with each telling of the tale having different content. You see the primary message of Run Lola Run is that even the smallest of events can have massive implications. So something as small as Lola tripping on the way out of her apartment can completely alter her life and everyone that she encounters. The people that she encounters lives are played out in a matter of seconds via a series of Polaroid photos. It's a nice gimmick and it’s interesting to see how the various characters lives have been altered depending on Lola's actions. The various stories that are intertwined into Lola's and Manni's are interesting and they play out gradually over the course of the three threads. We meet Lola's father and his mistress, a homeless man with a plastic bag fetish and a group of workmen crossing a road with a giant sheet of glass among others. Because of the nature of the film, there are few characters to speak of outside of Lola and Manni. That's not a major problem because these two young actors are likeable enough and carry the film nicely. Franka Potente has a striking appearance with her red hair flowing as she runs. Admittedly she has little to do except run and scream on the odd occasion, but she has an endearing presence and I liked her a lot. Moritz Bleibtreu was also good as Manni, his character is one that is desperate and is ready to do anything to get the money he needs. Bleibtreu gives the character just enough of an air of desperation to convince. As good as Run Lola Run is I had a problem with the films length. It clocks in at 80 minutes (75 without credits) and in such a small space of time I found that I didn't get to know the two main characters as much as I would have liked. Between the running and the retelling of the story there is little time for much in the way of character development or exposition. Lola does some questionable things and it would have been nice to know more of her background to explain some of these actions. There could have easily been another 10 to 20 minutes added to the film and I would have not complained. It's a small niggle, but one that had a fairly large impact on my overall enjoyment of the film. For sure, Run Lola Run is technically an excellent film, with some interesting story ideas, but it just didn't dig as deep as I would have liked. Worth a look.

7/10 for Run Lola Run. Poster Quote - Worth taking for a run.