You Can't Run Forever — You Can't Run Forever( VOD/ DVD)

'You Can't Run Forever'  is a new thriller made available via both digital platforms and in DVD format on 27 May.

The film concerns the pursuit of a young woman, Miranda (Isabelle Anaya) by a psychopath, Wade (J K Simmons) after he guns down her stepfather.  At the same time, we follow the sluggish efforts of the law enforcement agencies and discover the danger Miranda's mother, Jenny (Fernada Urrejola) also finds herself placed in.

Some actors are destined to forever be the bridesmaid and never the bride.  In spite of being showered with awards for his performance as Terence Fletcher in 'Whiplash' (2014) J K Simmons continues to be regarded as a powerhouse supporting presence or character star rather than a leading man.  Since 'Whiplash' two of his only starring roles have been in films directed by his wife, Michelle Schumacher:  'I'm Not Here' directed in 2017 and this thriller.  'I'm Not Here' garnered noticeably better notices than 'Forever' although on' Rotten Tomatoes' the latter gained a far better audience aggregate than the critical consensus.  

Personally, I foud it difficult to make up my mind about this movie.  All the elements are handled competently.  The performances besides Simmons' usual exceptional presence are competent and in the case of Isabelle Anaya and Fernada Urrejola a good deal better than that.  Atmospherics are good with the night time woods becoming an eerie hunting ground.  The film is hardly short on thematic substance.  Initially presenting itself as another variant on 'The Most Dangerous Game' (1932) with a sadistic sociopath indulging his worst inclinations, Schumacher gradually makes us privy to Wade's backstory.  A disgruntled, cuckolded academic, he emerges less a Count Zaroff than a variant on D-Fens, the Michael Douglas character in 'Falling Down', a middle-class underachiever who, in this case, sublimates his resentments into a quest to become the ultimate survivor. 
It is indeed a tendency to cram in too much thematic material that largely results in the movie's undoing, leading to a halting pace that never allows the main plot room to breathe. 

Schumacher is concerned with the disparity between the victims' pressing need for justice and the law forces' more softly, softly approach, underlined as it always is by issues of accountability and deniability.  The movie has to grind to a halt from time to time to see where deputies Dwyer (Graham Patrick) and Morgan (Andres Velez) are at.  It also has the unfortunate effect of making these decent hardworking cops look like klutzes.

There is a subplot about Miranda's anxiety following her birth father's suicide but it isn't clear how her behaviour would be appreciably different due to this trauma.  Miranda hallucinates about her father after consuming magic mushrooms but this makes no impact on plot developments.

'You Can't Run Forever' is a generally watchable effort and it's worth waiting for when J K Simmons turns up and acts everyone else off the screen.  Meanwhile one can only hope he soon lucks again into a career-defining performance like the one he gave in 'Whiplash'.