Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt) (1998)

Franka Potente burst on the scene as the star of Run Lola Run, a heartpounding adrenaline-fueled thrill ride with a driving Eurotechnopop soundtrack. As the brains of the young couple, Lola gets an urgent call from her boyfriend Manni: "Please! Help me replace the $100K in Deutsche marks I just lost or I will be killed in 20 minutes by the drug boss who trusted me with his errand." She thinks first of her problematic bank-manager father, then leaves the house running... as developments unroll (or complications unravel) unrelentingly for the next 20 minutes. Even so, it would be a very short movie, except the story resets itself to run through it all again -- and again -- each time with minor yet significant tweaks in search of a satisfactory ending for the devoted and star-crossed lovers. Nothing about Lola is predictable; she and this movie are in a hyperkinetic race to show how free will and thinking on one's feet can make all the difference in the world. I've seen this movie several times, I own it, and I can't see ever getting tired of watching it. See it in German with English subtitles. Lola is addictive; I hope you'll watch her and agree. 5 stars.