Run Baby Run review: RJ Balaji’s effective crime mystery loses steam in the second half

Music composer Sam CS does a lot to Run Baby Run. Though the blaring background score ostentatiously stands out and begs for your attention, it helps the mood of the film, which at times gets into the supernatural zone. However, post the interval, like many of our Tamil films, things start to fizzle out. The screenplay is not seamless anymore. There’s a lack of consistency too. The initial threat to the protagonist, which felt omnipresent and omnipotent, loses its consistency. We painfully watch a brilliant premise descend into a generic thriller with the usual motive and a stereotypical villain. Then there’s a huge change of pace. While the predominant portion of the first part was about the whole journey of the protagonist and the way he gets rid of the body, the second part just gets past several major developments in a hurry. There’s no ‘showing’ anymore, but a lot of telling.

While Sathya, as he claims, was just an average person in the first half, he quickly becomes a hero in the next. The unnecessary fight sequence has no reason to exist in this film, which was trying to stay sober as much as possible. One might argue it was realistically choreographed, but the point is the movie never needed one in the first place. Then there are the contrivances that make it a lot easier for the hero. It all looks hurried. The huge issue with Run Baby Run is the lack of a solid motive and a stronger antagonist. The threat which was initially personal becomes a social issue. It is time heroes and filmmakers realise they need not always save the world. Sometimes saving a decent film from becoming a mediocre affair is good enough.