Germany in the future: in the EU state, there is a corporation called "Lifecorp" that gives out credit and a payment date. When the creditor cannot pay in time, he is killed and his body recycled.
Jan is addicted to gambling, and his debtor gives him one last chance: 400,000 EUR or death. Jan goes to the "Lifecorp" pawn shop, gets the money, pays back - and even wins big in a "last game" with the casino owner. With enough money to repay, he goes back to "Lifecorp" - but the enigmatic Michelle Reuter (Sonja Kirchberger) has other plans, and he discovers his payback time to be expired. Not wanting to give away his body, he runs away; these people not wanting to fulfill their contract are called "Runners" (hence the title) and are hunted by the police as well as Lifecorp.
The idea was good enough for a major box-office hit. The actors were light-years ahead of the "Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten"-"actors" normally seen in German private TV, almost everyone of them starred in some films before or after. Everything /could have/ worked, and "Der Runner" is not a bad film.
However, it's not that good, neither. Pro7, the TV station that produced it, did not afford the necessary editing to the story; and you see very often that it's ultra-low budget.
Which is a shame considering everything else was good. The actors are to be regretted for having to work under such circumstances; but they did a good job, nevertheless.
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