Run Hide Fight (2021)

There's something disturbingly simplistic about Run Hide Fight. It takes what is actually a complex problem, mired in issues of poverty, inequality, an institutionalised culture of violence and more and reduces it to a basic formula. High school shooters are presented as violent, immature, sometimes mentally ill, narcissists and little more. Certainly there may be elements of this, in these events but there's a lot more to than that. I felt the handling was uncomfortable and somewhat troubling, leaving a tale that not only failed to resonate but to me, felt a little exploitative. Acting wise, its on the money. This film is outside my demographic but I'm a big fan of Thomas Jane, so I took a look. Jane does not fail to impress but his is really a peripheral character. The main role falling to Isabel May. May hands in a sardonic, fraught but ultimately hopeful performance as a Rambo/John McClane (Die Hard) style character. The pacing works and there is plenty of action to keep things rolling along. That said, for me this is a sombre subject, that I feel deserves the sort of mature treatment offered up by Michael Moore's insightful documentary, Bowling for Columbine (2002). 6/10.