Rent Run Lola Run on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Tom Tykwer
Directed by: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
After a botched money delivery, Lola has twenty minutes to come up with 100,000 Deutschmarks.
Verdict
It's a high energy, mad dash to get it 'right.' Lola experiences the same sequence several times, each with varying results. With the setup, we can debate determinism, but Lola seems to only have a minor influence on events. The less she interferes, the more optimal the outcome. It's a non-stop action movie with added depth. It's a simple premise that by repeating it, the tension is increased as we wonder will it stay the same or change?
Watch It.
Review
Part of what dulls the time loop effect is that any time loop movie will always be compared to Groundhog Day. but this is also a much different movie.
It does waste any time. There's no setup, just a phone call between Lola (Franka Potente) and Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu). She's late picking him up when her moped is stolen. He forgot a bag of cash on the subway, a bag he was supposed to give to his boss. He's desperate for that cash, and Lola runs to meet him in the hopes she can stop him from doing something stupid.
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| Moritz Bleibtreu, Franka Potente play, Manni, Lola |
This is intense with Lola sprinting to the bank, intercut with people that cross her path, sometimes showing snapshots of their future. Does their momentary interaction change the future? Lola hopes her estranged father would help her. It's the best idea she could manage under the circumstances. Her father not only doesn't help, he wants to cut ties with her. All the while, her boyfriend's life hangs in the balance as he contemplates rash decisions to get the money.
Lola isn't able to save him, but she gets a second chance. This movie doesn't explain the why or what. Somehow she gets a second chance to save Manni. It could be love, desire, or strange confluence of events. Repeating the morning, one simple change has drastic effects on everything else that happens that day. While she gets the money, the end result isn't any better.
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| Franka Potente plays Lola |
In the third run, some things work out better, others don't. Interactions she has with pedestrians vary drastically. Some interactions seem destined. Meyer hits the BMW in every scenario. While Lola feels she failed in this run, the outcome is better than when she was more successful.
You could ruminate on what it means. Is there a way to get it right or is it better to leave things to chance and avoid trying to influence it. I tend to think this examines the push and pull of influence. Trying to push a situation to a certain result sends it off course. It may very well be that Lola died in the first run and the proceeding runs are her imagining an alternative. It could be that Manni is imagining a situation where Lola saves him.
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