The Runaround Club (Short)
“The Runaround Club” starts near the end before making it’s way back to the beginning. The first thing we see is Lucas (Ariel Zuckerman), Sam (Jack Lynch) and Frank (John Depew) in a car together. Sam is trying to talk to Lucas, but to no avail. By the way Frank is talking, he did not know Lucas and Sam before the car. We then cut back to Lucas and Sam out in a field. They are waiting. Sam is concerned when Lucas can’t name the restaurant their marks are going to, but Lucas makes a good point when he says that it doesn’t matter. They are waiting for a family to leave their house, and we see that Frank is one of the people they are waiting for. Unfortunately, not long after they get inside, their plans to rob the house get undercut when Frank and his daughter, Linda (Asta Paredes), come home. They are getting ready to move, but the tension is much starker than that. Frank is ready to get violent, which makes things even more difficult for Lucas and Sam.
Written by Andrew Gleeson and directed by Matthew Rindini, “The Runaround Club” is a smart unfolding of a situation that is well-played by all involved (including Caitlyn Parker as Eliza, Frank’s other sister), but ultimately leaves you wanting a bit more as a narrative. Yes, we see a difficult scenario for Linda and Eliza in dealing with Frank, but that could have been it’s own short altogether, and it would have made for an interesting story without the break-in. And the break-in part of the story is interesting, especially with the development of Frank as a hot-head who is very controlling, but the daughters undercut the tension of this by simply trying to play along with what Lucas and Sam have gotten themselves into. As it is, the ending of this film is a fascinating little piece of morality turned upside down, but it only makes it more disappointing at how the story plays out before that. We’ve got a very well made film here, but just not entirely successful as a piece of storytelling.
