Runner Runner (film)
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Brad Furman |
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| Music by | Christophe Beck |
| Cinematography | Mauro Fiore |
| Edited by | Jeff McEvoy |
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Production
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Running time
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91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box office | $62.7 million |
Runner Runner is a 2013 American crime thriller film directed by Brad Furman, written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien and stars Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, Gemma Arterton and Anthony Mackie.
Some parts of this narrative are based on the life of Nat Arem, a professional poker player and former accountant at Deloitte Touche who helped uncover cheating in online poker by using statistical methods to analyze thousands of games. The film was released in the United States on October 4, 2013, received generally negative reviews from critics and grossed $62 million.
Richie Furst used to have a lucrative career on Wall Street; this history prevents him from receiving tuition assistance at Princeton, so he funds his master's degree by referring students to online gambling, for which he receives a cut. After the dean threatens to expel him for these activities, Richie tries to win his tuition using his excellent poker skills in online gambling, but he loses all his money to a cheater, something he is able to prove by statistics.
Richie travels to Costa Rica to confront Ivan Block, who runs the biggest empire of online gambling websites in the world, including the one Richie lost his money on. After Ivan sees the statistics, he finds coders have coded the software to allow them to cheat. After firing those involved, Ivan tells Richie he'll pay him millions per year to stay in Costa Rica and assist with the site.
Richie slowly begins a romantic relationship with Rebecca Shafran, ex-lover of Ivan, who appears to have no objections. Ivan has Richie blackmail a gaming affiliate with videos of his infidelity to force him to sign with Ivan. FBI agent Shavers kidnaps Richie and threatens to ruin his life in various ways if he does not assist in a conviction of Ivan Block. Shavers cannot do anything legally as he has no authority in Costa Rica, but he takes advantage of this to use tactics that would be illegal and unethical for law enforcement inside the United States. Ivan tells Richie that everyone in the organization ends up confronted by Shavers at some point.
Over time, Ivan's organization is revealed to be less than ethical. He sends Richie to bribe Costa Rica gaming director Herrera with too small a payment, which leads to Richie being beaten. Ivan tells him it comes with the territory of such a lucrative career. When Richie tries to leave the country, Shavers has drugs planted in his bag and offers to overlook it if Richie agrees to cooperate. A local police officer reveals that the police dislike Ivan but that he would buy his way out of any trouble and destroy whoever tried to take him down.
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