RUNNER is the Reacher Movie We've Been Waiting For!

Of course Alan Ritchison's Runner movie, which hit theaters this week, is not about his popular streaming character Reacher, but the mannerisms are hard to ignore in he 6’3” 230 pound hulking actor.

Co Starring Owen Wilson, Runner is a fast paced Action drama with a lot of emotion and deeply layered characters, which has become standard operating procedure for Angel Studios, who produced the film.

Ritchison plays a former Navy Seal turned errand runner in Australia when an unlikely partner (Owen Wilson) become the targets of a ruthless cartel while racing to complete a critical medical delivery and save the life of a little girl.

Ritchison and Wilson are wonderful unlikely partners. Ritchison's muscle plays off of Owen's quirky humor, which he has perfected over decades of movie making.

Rodrigo Santoro, who played Xerxes in 300 among other roles, is a believably psychotic villain whose motivation to stop Ritchison and Wilson adds an excellent layer of believability to the story. 

Angel Studios, known for choosing movies that pull on the heart strings, continues to dip into the emotional well, which is a nice disruption to cookie cutter action movies that are about as shallow as Jason Statham's general character IQ. Sorry Jason, you and Liam Nissan need to start scrubbing your scripts instead of looking for a payday… yeah I said it.

Runner has real consequences and feels like a throwback to Die Hard or Speed. Director, Scott Waugh, a veteran of the action movie genre brings a unique range of camera angles that make the acrion feel closer to you than in other films. Ritchison is quickly becoming THE action star of the decade.

Here is where Runner falls in my list of 2026 favorite movies:

1. Michael
2. Spiderman: Brand New Day
3. Obsession
4. RUNNER
5. Project Hail Mary
6. The End of Oak Street

If you like Reacher or throwback action films, you're going to love RUNNER. Grade🅰️