Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson thriller Runner set for September release

Scott Waugh’s action thriller Runner, starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson, opens 10 September in Australia and 11 September in the US and UK.

Ritchson plays Hank Malone, an ex-military fixer tasked with driving a donated liver from Brisbane airport to a children’s hospital on the Gold Coast. The organ is intended for a girl with cancer.

The delivery turns into an armed chase involving cartel hitmen, Australian biker gangs and Ben Bishop, a character played by Wilson who is travelling with the liver.

Cast and premise

Waugh, a former stuntman who directed 6 Below and Need for Speed, made the film from a screenplay by Miles Hubley and Tommy White. Faith-based distributor Angel Studios is presenting Runner as an attempt to enter the market for more conventional mass-market entertainment.

The film gives the criminals a reason to pursue the organ: livers with rare blood types can reportedly fetch more than $1 million on the black market. It does not clearly explain how the cartel became involved in Queensland.

Action and performances

The movie features car chases, shootouts and hand-to-hand fights. Its set pieces include a multi-attacker brawl and a Range Rover sequence, while Rodrigo Santoro plays a cartel leader named Damian.

Runner has a runtime of 98 minutes. The review praises Waugh’s handling of large-scale stunts but describes the chemistry between Ritchson and Wilson as merely serviceable, with the emotional material taking a back seat to the film’s deliberately cartoonish action and comedy.