DVD Review: Run Lola Run

Rated R for violence and language

Starring Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu

Run Lola Run is a German thriller with English subtitles that follows the story of Lola and her boyfriend Manni.

It starts out with Lola receiving a phonecall from a paniced Manni, who tells her he lost a bag containing 100,000 Deutsche Marks that was supposed to be dropped off to crime boss Ronnie. As it turns out, Lola was supposed to pick up Manni after he made an exchange for the money, however her scooter was stolen and she was unable to meet him, causing him to have to take the subway, where he runs into some guards and panics, accidently leaving the money behind. Manni is convinced that if he does not deliver the money to Ronnie in 20 minutes, he will be killed. He also tells Lola that he is contemplating robbing a nearby supermarket, to recoup at least some of the money he lost, however Lola tells him to just wait 20 minutes for her to get there, as she has a few ideas up her sleeve.

Lola has 20 minutes to get to the money and meet Manni. This takes her 3 different times to get it right however, as various minor events on her journey cause other things to happen in a butterfly effect sort of way. Each attempt though, Lola seems to learn until she finally gets it right. It's almost like a video game, where each failed attempt at the level, puts you back at the beginning to restart it and try again until you get it right.

It was a very interesting movie and although we're seeing the same thing happen 3 different times, it is fun to notice how 1 thing at the beginning of each attempt can affect something major later on. For example, Lola encounters a dog at the beginning of the first and second attempt, slower her down in one attempt, while giving her more time another. This becomes significant as she has to time the encounter just right to put her in the right place at the right time.

Definitely worth a view if you haven't seen this one before!