Online Poker Film Angers Costa Rican Government'Runner, Runner' Disgraces Country, Says Government Official |
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According to a report from insidecostarica.com, the crime film involving online poker, Runner, Runner, which starred Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake, has not made officials in Costa Rica too happy. The film was based in the country.
The film, the report said, depicts Costa Rica “as a haven for gamblers and drug addicts, a den of prostitution and the home of corrupt police and security officials.”
Apparently, the film, which was actually shot in Puerto Rico, broke some rules.
Costa Rica’s Minister of Public Security, Celso Gamboa, said that the unauthorized use of the police insignia is unlawful, and that no Costa Rican officials had granted their permission for the insignia and uniforms to be used in the film. “Instead of drawing attention to our country for its flora and fauna, they tarnish the image of our civilian police,” Gamboa told reporters. “It is a way of telling criminals and drug addicts that Costa Rica is perfect [for such behavior]. We want this to be fixed because you don’t [mock] our country.”
According to Box Office Mojo, Runner, Runner sold $62,675,095 worth of tickets. It had a budget of $30 million. Though, the R-rated thriller wasn’t received favorably by critics.
The screenwriters of Rounders, David Levien and Brian Koppelman, wrote Runner, Runner.
They actually didn’t see the movie as a “poker film.”
“We don’t really consider Runner, Runner a poker movie," they told Bleacher Report. "It’s a thriller set against online gambling. The movie starts out centered around poker because a character is cheated by an online poker site, but it’s more about the business of online poker, the same way a movie like The Firm is set around a law firm and the mafia.”
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