A little over a month ago, we heard that Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake were co-starring in a gambling movie called Runner Runner directed by The Lincoln Lawyer helmer Brad Furman. It’s about a Princeton student (Timberlake) who is cheated out of his tuition by the billionaire owner of an online poker site (Affleck), and when the student flies to Costa Rica to get his money back, he gets sucked further into that world and becomes the billionaire’s protege. Variety reports that Anthony Mackie has also signed on, adding to the excellent cast and making me even more interested in how this film turns out.
Mackie will play an FBI agent who’s been hunting Affleck’s character for years and needs Timberlake’s help with the takedown. Project X star Oliver Cooper has also joined the cast, and will be playing an Ivy League computer geek who works for Affleck’s company.
I’m embarrassed to say it took me this long to realize why the film is actually called Runner Runner, and no – they’re not talking about sprinting: in poker terminology, the phrase “runner runner” is used to describe the last two cards that come down after the flop if they aid a player in miraculously receiving a good hand. I really enjoyed The Lincoln Lawyer, and since this script is written by the guys who wrote Rounders, I’m excited to see what Furman can do with the story and this A-list cast he’s putting together.
