Running on Empty, 2024.
Written and Directed by Daniel André.
Starring Keir Gilchrist, Lucy Hale, Jay Pharoah, Monica Potter, Jim Gaffigan, Francesca Eastwood, Rhys Coiro, Clara McGregor, Dustin Milligan, Leslie Stratton, Dylan Flashner, Lisa Yaro, Isaac C. Singleton Jr., and Jim Klock.
SYNOPSIS:
Follows Mort who discovers he has less than a year to live, and after his fiancé leaves him, he meets Kate in a dating service that matches people by their death dates, all while being stalked by a disturbed pimp.
Sometime in the near future, a test has been invented to place the exact date on someone’s death. There are some limitations to this groundbreaking medical advancement, such as the procedure can’t account for variables such as murder or suicide. Nevertheless, writer/director Daniel André’s Running on Empty has a solid starting point for exploring an angle, like how this would affect a relationship or homeownership. Well, it turns out couple Mortimer (Keir Gilchrist) and Nicole (Francesca Eastwood) would shoot to the top of the list of preferred candidates for a home they would like to move into, with the former less than thrilled about learning his death date.
To be fair, Mort is more indifferent about the situation than anything. He thought he and Nicole agreed they wouldn’t take the test, but he is more than willing to go through with it to make this aspect of life easier. It turns out that Nicole has 60 years left to live, whereas Mort will die in a few months. Nicole is shocked, but not about Mort. No, she is the kind of cartoonishly self-absorbed blonde who immediately starts worrying about what to do with those remaining 60 years. Meanwhile, Mort remains calm, likely because he works in a family-owned funeral home business specializing in playful wakes presenting dead bodies engaged in fun activities. Unsurprisingly, Nicole immediately also breaks up with him.
With the stage set for a familiar take on what to do with the time remaining in life, Running on Empty bafflingly introduces several characters played for juvenile, often gross humor. Jim Gaffigan is a horny uncle circling different dating options, Mort absurdly finds himself wrapped up in debt to a pimp who bizarrely makes necrophilia jokes, and disaster strikes during a one-night stand (okay, I will admit the last one is a bleakly funny bit.)
Simultaneously, the film wants to tell a story about a dating agency that has specifically been created for people set to die shortly, operated by Lucy Hale’s Kate. She typically finds herself annoyed and even repulsed by some of the clientele she films generic profile videos of but takes a liking to Mort. That’s a fine idea in theory, but the film shockingly doesn’t even bother diving into that romance until the last 25 minutes. It’s mind-blowing that not only did Lucy Hale agree to be in this movie, but that for someone so high up on the cast list, she’s barely in it and has no real character or anything to do. Naturally, everything about the romance that develops feels rushed and aimless, including a random and sudden ending to the film, which is clearly meant to be another way of reminding viewers death can come for any of us at any time.
There is also zero logic put forth in Running on Empty. If people know they are going to die soon, why is Mort and seemingly no one else looking into what is going to cause that and what they can do medically to extend their lifespan? When Nicole is reintroduced into the film, why is she suddenly less of an airhead and now a vessel for weak drama? How did two people as mismatched with seemingly nothing in common as Mort and Nicole become a couple in the first place? The death date concept is dreadfully underexplored and exists as a paper-thin setup to a chaotic series of events and romance that is everything from bland to tonally inconsistent to unnecessarily crude. Nothing here gels together. It’s empty from the first frame.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
