Costa Rican officials are not fans of the American movie industry right now. According to InsideCostaRica.com, an English-language Costa Rica news website, Costa Rican police and the Minister of Public Security have taken issue with last October’s film, Runner Runner, seeing it as a slap in the face to the country and its police force.
The movie stars Justin Timberlake as Richie, an online poker whiz who pays for college with his online winnings. He loses it all in a high stakes game one night only to later find out that he was cheated. He travels to Costa Rica to confront the owner of the site, played by Ben Affleck. Affleck’s character, Ivan, is impressed with Richie and hires him to help with the site. The FBI eventually gets involved, threatening to ruin Richie’s life if he doesn’t work with them to take down Ivan, and the movie becomes less a movie about poker and more a thriller set against a gambling backdrop.
Runner Runner received terrible reviews, weighing in at just eight percent positive on RottenTomatoes.com. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said of the movie, “The actors hit the jackpot, but only in terms of their paychecks. The audience gets a tension-free, tight-assed, Casino ripoff that leaves them thoroughly fleeced.”
Wesley Morris of Grantland.com, wrote, “This is a sleazy-sexy ’80s thriller that has no idea what sleazy-sexy is — or is too scared of what it takes to go there. The movie needs to go off the rails. But it’s greedy and lazy. It only wants to go to the bank.”
Most of the reviews were of the same ilk. Just a bad movie.
But Costa Rican officials aren’t upset about the quality of the flick, but rather how they feel it made their country look. According to the InsideCostaRica article, “One scene in particular – which depicts Costa Rican police officers behaving less than professionally – has ruffled the feathers of Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security (MSP). In the scene, Costa Rican police officers – dressed in official uniforms that bear the Fuerza Publica (Costa Rica’s national police) insignia – are seen in the company of prostitutes while drinking and smoking cigars.”
Never mind that, by my count, a bajillionteen movies have included depictions of dirty police officers and various areas of the United States as less than attractive. No, instead of realizing that the actors on the screen are playing pretend (though the story is partially based on real life events) and that everyone watching the movie are keenly aware that it is not a tourism video, the Costa Rican police get their jimmies rustled.
“Instead of drawing attention to our country for its flora and fauna, they tarnish the image of our civilian police,” Costa Rica’s Minister of Public Security, Celso Gamboa, said. “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 play with (mock) our country.”
Ok, whatever.
But wait…in the movie Dogma, the same Ben Affleck is one of two renegade angels (along with Matt Damon) banished from heaven. As the line in the movie goes, they weren’t sent to Hell, but rather, “Worse. Wisconsin. For the entire span of human history.”
Hold on just a minute. I grew up in Wisconsin. How dare they insult my home state! Ben Affleck again? Yeah, screw that guy.