Festival Report by Ashley Bradford
Run This Town takes audiences back to a time not so long ago in 2012 when the city of Toronto was shaken by the Rob Ford drug scandal. The movie opens with a percussion-heavy soundtrack that plays throughout the film, perfectly setting the theme for corruption and deceit as newbie journalist Bram, played by Ben Platt, seeks to break into the news world by exposing the infamous video featuring Rob Ford smoking crack. Simultaneously, the title of the movie comes into play as we see the inner workings of the City of Toronto, particularly through the eyes of those working directly under Ford. The use of muted colours and straight camera angles reflects the bleak reality of those holding the city up while Ford is having his down-fall and journalists such as Bram are trying to bring the truth forward to the public. Direct zooms in on characters are frequently used, building tension as the scandal breaks through the surface and into the public eye. The soundtrack and cinematography combined set the tone for this true story, but the storytelling through the perspective of multiple characters causes confusion to arise on what exactly is happening.
The cast of Run This Town is effective as the audience can feel the different struggles that both Bram and those working for Ford face during this time, but the method of displaying these perspectives is generally confusing and makes the story difficult to follow. Often cutting back and forth between characters, the film doesn’t give the audience a clear indicator of who the story is really about, and while it is interesting to see how everyone was affected by the Ford scandal, the storyline feels somewhat scattered.
Overall, the sound and cinematography set the tone for the suspense and corruption that the film was trying to convey, but the scattered storyline is somewhat confusing and hard to follow. On the plus side, several Canadian actors were featured, including Nina Dobrev, Mena Massoud, and Rebecca Liddiard, which was fitting as the movie was portraying a story that occurred in Canada.
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