It took 15 months, but the Costa Rican government has finally realized that the Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake online poker movie “Runner Runner” paints their country in a not-so-rosy light. Yes, it took over a year for the nation, which was formerly home to belly-up brands like Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker, to speak up. Apparently “Tico Time” is real.

In an article that appeared on InsideCostaRica, officials from the country’s government teed off on “Runner Runner,” which this author also thought was a total debacle, saying, “Instead of drawing attention to our country for its flora and fauna, they tarnish the image of our civilian police. 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.”

Those sound like fighting words.

InsideCostaRica pointed out that the flick wasn’t even filmed in Costa Rica, but rather in Puerto Rico. According to the site, “No Costa Rican officials had granted their permission for the insignia and uniforms to be used in the film.”

The movie, while in the action genre, does allude to the Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker cheating scandals, albeit for less than a fraction of the 90 minutes of Razzie-worthy acting.

This author saw “Runner Runner” on opening night in October 2013 and was one of seven people in the cavern-like theater. Its writers originally penned “Rounders,” so there was some hope that the movie wouldn’t be a dumpster fire, but it wasn’t meant to be.

It stars Affleck and Timberlake (pictured) and has a rather memorable scene where a person gets chicken stock dumped over their head before being pushed into crocodile-infested waters. That’s just a regular Tuesday down in Costa Rica.

Here were some of my takeaways from “Runner Runner” from my original review: “The movie taught me not to go to Costa Rica without a lot of money to bribe police. Also, I learned that chicken stock attracts alligators and that Gunner from ‘Nashville’ is actually British. I also learned that Costa Rica, according to a few of the characters in the movie, is an island.”

Now, seriously, it took 15 months for Costa Rica to respond?

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