What can we say about “Running With the Devil” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last week).

The film which stars Nicolas Cage and Laurence Fishburne who plays a high-rolling dealer whose way too familiar with his product lacks the impact we were expecting. Continue on…

Well, for starters the movie is about drugs, from a drug point of view. As we watch the film, we get to see how cocaine is made, then transported to a location for pickup for its journey through the US and on to Canada.

CelebNMovies247.com had the pleasure of watching “Running With The Devil” but we were disappointed that so much talent was wasted on this film.

We can also say that this is not the incredible film “Traffic” nor is it close to the action of “Sicario,” no, this film drags. It starts slow and continues on like it is stuck in first gear. As we watched the movie, we just wanted it to pick up and it didn’t. There were some peaks in the film with the opening sequence as a little girl who tells her Seattle school bus driver “I can’t wake them up” which we quickly learn her family has overdosed. We are introduced to the little girl’s aunt and a federal agent (Leslie Bibb).

We are next introduced to The Cook (Nicolas Cage) who is told he must follow the drugs from point a to b. There are some great scenes in the film as we get to see how cutthroat and cold the drug game it. How they drug lords find their mules and dispose of them when needed. All the elements are in this fused story which will fulfill fans of “Traffic” and “Sicario.” For us, we just expected more. There are great performances by The Executioner (Cole Hauser), The Snitch (Adam Goldberg) and of course The Man (Laurence Fishburne).

“Running With the Devil” which opens in 10 U.S. screens simultaneous with VOD and digital launch picks up in the last 25 minutes giving a good twisty plot, but we wished it had just a bit more meat on its bones. The overall film just seems to have way too many valleys within to final cut leaving begging for the movie to end. There are a few gems in this movie as a lot of abrupt, intense violent scenes, but they are quickly brushed over and on to the next, the drugs. The film comes off a bit one dimensional because of it.

We understand the movie is about the aspects of the drugs being transported but it finally gets interesting at the end of the film and then it’s over. “Running” is like the Kirkland brand of food products, same ingredients, less budget and lack of diving into the characters to really pull you into the world of dealers and the transporters.

We have to admit the trailer was better than the actual movie.

We give “Running With the Devil” a C-.