A Running Jump

Gary attempts to buy a second-hand car. What should be a straightforward task is turned into something of a quest by various people, including dodgy East End car dealer Perry, Perry's taxi-driver dad, a garage owner called Derek, Perry's wife Debbie and couple of twins.

Some short films are whole and complete the way they are. Others come to an end leaving things, real or implied, hanging in the air. They make me ask the question, “Why didn’t they make this a full-length film and tell the entire story?” This is one of the latter type, in my opinion. I know Mike Leigh is great at making full-length films and this should have been one of them. I like Eddie Marsan, and they have surrounded him with a fine ensemble cast, who we seem to barely get to know by the time the movie is finished. Mind you, where Eddie’s character is concerned, there is a frenetic quality to his scenes that might be hard to maintain and keep interesting if overused, but perhaps the rest of the cast could take up the slack. But anyway, it is what it is, as the saying goes. It is interesting but not memorable like a few other of Mike Leigh’s other films are. There is no real drama or tension, or comedy for that matter, just a wry and subtle humorous tone which would work even better with a more in0depth storyline. Perhaps “A Running Jump” accomplished what it set out to do, but I still lament to a slight degree its failing to live up to its potential.