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The title character (Franka Potente) gets an urgent call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) who needs 100,000 marks because of a botched drug deal. Oh yeah, he needs it in twenty minutes. So Lola leaves her house and runs to try to raise the money.
The genius quality of the film is that it's one movie in three different takes. Quick cuts from an object to another (2001: A Space Odyssey, anyone?) and awesome, quick-tempoed music keep the heart pounding and the eyes open. We don't have one story. If Lola trips on the steps down from the apartment, she has a limp and thus the entire section is different.
All the actors are incredible. Potente (last seen in The Bourne Identity) stands out with her bright red hair (which she couldn't wash for seven weeks) and her fast running. Bleibtreu, who'll rob a store if Lola doesn't have the money by noon, also is great, no other words to use.
It's fast-paced, fun, and heart-pounding. I love movies that don't have "one" solution; here, there's three. Once something happens at the end of twenty minutes, we know that that won't happen later. If there is one aspect of the film I didn't enjoy so much were the scenes where Manni and Lola were in bed. They did add depth to the characters, but dampered a little from the quick pacing. But maybe that was to calm us down, only to jump us up again.
Run Lola Run is a must see, with great acting, great action and suspense, and a quick runtime (75 minutes). A movie that has the guts to explore a new type of film, it's a great movie for anyone who doesn't mind reading subtitles.
Rated R for some language and violence.
Review Date: October 30, 2002