One of the most exciting action films ever made is nearly 30 years old, but it feels as fresh today as it did back in 1998. In Run Lola Run, the titular pink-haired heroine, Lola (Franka Potente), has to save her no-good boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), from certain death. He intends to rob a grocery store to get some money to pay his dug lord boss, and if Lola wants to stop, she has 20 minutes to find the cash herself.
That’s the simple setup to the film, which is split into three different narratives detailing all the multiple ways Lola tries to get the money. Director Tom Tykwer plays fast and loose with time and space, allowing his heroine to sometimes bend the rules of reality to get what she wants. It doesn’t always work out for her – in one reality, she winds up [REDACTED]. But the main pleasure of the film is watching Lola thinking of all the ways she can save her lover while running breathlessly around a Berlin populated with screaming babies, philandering fathers and curious nuns. Way ahead of its time, Run Lola Run is an action film with a pulse and a techno beat that you won’t stop humming. It will make you want to get up, channel your inner Lola and find some adventure of your own.
