Spoiler: Does Gal Gadot Ever Stop Running in 'The Runner'?

There’s a movie from Angel Studios coming out this weekend starring Alan Ritchson (Reacher) called Runner. This is not that movie. This is called The Runner, it stars Gal Gadot, and it’s streaming on Prime Video. The The makes all the difference: A runner is someone who is hired to move goods, in this case critical medical supplies. The runner refers to someone who runs. A lot.

And that’s what Gal Gadot does for 85 minutes in The Runner. She runs. And runs. And runs some more. And then, yes, you guessed it: She runs. Gal Gadot plays Maia. She’s a high-powered attorney. She drops her kid off at school before a morning run, asking him to walk the final block by himself. If you’re in an action movie, never ask your young kid to walk alone!

Noah — who is diabetic — is kidnapped by a bad man and put into a diabetic coma. Maia has an hour to run across the city and kill a witness ahead of a high-profile trial before Noah dies. She remains in communication with the kidnapper by phone while she runs. And runs. And runs some more. She runs through the streets of London, and then she finds some different streets, and she runs through those. She gets hit by a car, loses consciousness, wakes up in an ambulance, and then she jumps out and runs some more. At one point, to make up some time, she gets on the subway, but then someone steals her phone, so she has to run to the next subway stop to retrieve it. And then she runs some more. And just when you think she’s finished running, she … runs. Over and under bridges, along the sidewalk, through the park, into and out of traffic, she runs. The police start chasing her, and what does she do? She runs! Sometimes she pants while she’s running, but she continues to run, and she talks to this guy on the phone about how her mother killed her abusive father while she’s running, not that her father’s death has anything to do with anything, except that it apparently provides her with more motivation to … run!

There is just so much running! Sometimes she runs at a slower pace. Sometimes she sprints. Sometimes she runs with a limp. Occasionally, she tries to steal other people’s phones to make contact with others, but she continues to run. And run. Waving those arms while she runs! If you like to watch Gal Gadot run for nearly an hour and a half, boy is this the movie for you! And it’s the perfect vehicle for Gadot because she knows how to run! And also, it’s easier to excuse bad actressin’ when she’s trying to talk on the phone while she’s breathing heavily. Because of the running.

And here’s the spoiler: She makes it! And in an arrangement made by phone, when she arrives at the hotel to kill the witness, she’s given blanks so that it looks like she killed the guy. The bad guy lets her son live, and he’s played by Damian Lewis. Noah lives, the witness testifies, and the kidnapper is apprehended. And in the last five minutes of the movie, Gal Gadot finally stops running!

That’s the movie. It’s bad. One of the worst of the year. It should never have been made. God help you if you decide to watch it anyway.