Director: Chris Helton
Writers: Walter Czura, Jason Usry
Stars: Jeff Fahey, Judd Nelson, Maddie Henderson
Synopsis: Pierce Butler, a former Marine and long-retired marijuana smuggler, whose wife is suffering from a rare type of cancer, must return to his drug-running ways and make one Final Load in order to save his house, his company, and his wife.
There are bad actors who are allowed professional opportunities. They exist, but most of the acting we consider bad or at least unbelievable is because a working actor is doing as their director wants. They aren’t pushed, challenged, or motivated to do more. This is either because of budget, they can’t afford more than a few takes, or because of vision. The acting in The Final Run isn’t bad, but the film lacks vision.
It starts with the script. The credited writer Walter Czura is given the “screenplay by” credit, but there is another writing credit for Jason Usry that reads “revisions by.” It may be Usry’s revisions are at fault for the screenplay having the emotional depth of a teaspoon. It may be that Czura’s original script is at fault for being so unoriginal that it could have been written by an AI who was fed the scripts for late 20th century thrillers. Who’s ever at fault, The Final Run says absolutely nothing new, has no unique elements whatsoever, and is wholly without artistic merit. So, what was this film made for? It’s when you start asking that, that the religious aspect of the film begins creeping in.
Films with a specific religious bent aren’t inherently bad. Some are well crafted, intriguing stories that are meant not for a broad audience, but for people who want to see their values reflected on screen. There are several filmmakers working within this space who are good filmmakers with unique points of view and an eye for craft. Yet, The Final Run feels like it completely tacked this aspect onto a general audience story. The film has a few scenes of faith based interactions and aspects of Christian values. Yet, those aspects are just used as a crutch for the gray areas of breaking the law for the right reasons. They are used almost exploitatively for a bland, tepid anti-thriller for not having curse words, gunplay, or sexuality of any kind.
The film has no teeth. The antagonists and protagonists have nothing to quarrel about and it seems the DEA agents on the case have no real interest in pursuing leads in an intelligent way. The law enforcement officers do not investigate and they seem to have no authority to actually question anyone about anything. No agent goes off half-cocked. No agent is dressed down because he can’t just let things go and do it by the book. There is nothing compelling or driving about the investigation. They literally know every single detail about the case, but they keep staring at a cork board wondering what they’re missing.
In one of the most frustratingly funny scenes, which is played for laughs, but you won’t laugh at what they want you to laugh at, sums up the slap-dash way the movie tries to create tension. Sloane (Judd Nelson) helps Pierce (Jeff Fahey) by calling in a fake shooting to 911. Sloane was chasing and caught Pierce for smuggling decades prior and sent him to prison, but because this last run is for Pierce’s wife’s cancer treatment, all is forgotten and Sloane’s on board with the operation. So Sloane sees the deputy approach semi full of drugs in the middle of a forest and calls 911. He puts on a terrible accident and with no urgency, inflection, or passion in his voice he tells the operator there is currently a shooting happening at his location. He tells the operator to listen. Then he hangs up. He didn’t even fake gunshots, yelling, or screaming. He gave no details of where the shooting is supposed to be taking place. He hung up on the operator without the operator balking or trying to keep him on the line. There is nothing. The distraction works (maybe through the miracle of utter stupidity?) and Sloane saves the day.
If that small snippet of a scene sounds confounding, then know the entirety of The Final Run is like that. There is absolutely no passion or urgency of any kind to the film. The characters never get mad, they just get disappointed. There is no personality to any character and the whole film feels like they shot the rehearsals of scenes rather than going for a take with some actual weight to it. In spite of the film’s 88 minute run time it feels like an eternity with subplots that are dull and a main plot that moves forward with little to no obstacle. This is 88 minutes of your life you will never get back, spend it doing anything else.
