‘Running For Grace’ Review: A historic look at triumph over racism, but lacks depth for a wide audience

Blue Fox Entertainment delivers a beautiful film, Running For Grace, a historic piece with a powerful family message.

The film starts with an orphan boy, named Jo, of mixed race (Cole Takiue) finds family with the newly arrived white village doctor (Matt Dillon) in 1920’s Hawaii. The years past and the boy grows (Ryan Potter) and can run like the wind, outrunning a horse drawn carriage at one point, bringing Doc’s medicine to those in need throughout the mountainous region.

Olivia Ritchie plays Jo’s love interest, a girl named Grace, the daughter of the plantation owner (Nick Boraine) and a young love blossoms like the white “Kona Snow” of the surrounding coffee trees. Dr. Reyes (Jim Caviezel) arrives on the scene as an arrogant alternative to the Doc and his protege and the class warfare takes a new turn.

Director David Cunningham delivers a beautiful film, capturing a mosaic of colors across Hawaii as a lovely backdrop to the love story. Caviezel’s bright red contraption arrives on the scene as an intense contrast to the mood on the island and the “vog” was a true blessing for viewers.(Cunningham explains this is detail in an EXCLUSIVE interview with the DISPATCH at the bottom).

Ryan Potter, who plays Beast Boy in DC’s new Titans show, is charismatic and charming and intense when the film calls for it. The cast does an admirable job with the material overall. Caviezel takes on the role of the unlikable character…who am I kidding, he’s despicable and Caviezel is fantastic.

Dillon has some good moments as well, but there isn’t too much to work with in the story.

Running For Grace struggles to engage the audience. It is a dramatic film, never quite romantic enough or funny enough to compete with many other mainstream films, and is way too slow for many viewers.

That said, Cunningham’s Running For Grace does something Caviezel accomplishes in When the Game Stands Tall or Charlie Hunnam in The Lost City of Z – they tell a story which needed to be told.

The racism and prejudices of the time are something we need to identify and acknowledge. We have evolved beyond it and that needs to be celebrated. Stories like Jo and Grace remind of how we can be better each and every day.

Official Website: https://www.runningforgracemovie.com/

Running For Grace earns 2 stars out of 5 stars