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| “ | You are a real-life bonafide Madman | „ |
| ~ Ronnie stating Cal as a Madman |
| “ | I’m really glade you’re here. I am too. |
„ |
| ~ Cal and Cecily heart to heart moment |
Calvin, also known as Cal, is the main protagonist of the 2021 film Runt, he is a high school student who lives with his widowed mother. While neglected and unsupervised, with a group of high school seniors who find themselves pulled into a downward cycle of violence.
He was portrayed by the late Cameron Boyce, who also played Carlos De Vil in Disney's Descendants, Luke Ross from Jessie, and played the voice of Jake in Jake and the Neverland Pirates.
Summary[]
High School[]
Calvin “Cal” is a high school student who lives with his widowed mother. Cal’s mother often works late at night as a nurse in a hospital and thus is majorly absent throughout the film. Her absence symbolizes loneliness and absent parenting in Cal’s life, the void he fills with a stray dog, Runt. Cal found Runt near an oil field and gave shelter to the animal. However, Cal soon found that Runt had a condition, and thus, to afford his food and medicine, he started working part-time after school in a general store.
At school, the toxic macho footballers, Vic and his gang, consistently bully Cal. One of Vic’s friends, Hank, tries to cheat on Cal’s paper during the exam. However, Talley, the teacher, catches Hank and his friend and bans them from playing the much-awaited football match next week.
Cal has a crush on Vic’s girlfriend, Gabriella “Gabby.” Using his flair sketching skills, Cal sketches Gabby’s portrait to impress her and ask her for the homecoming dance. However, when Gabby refuses, Cal discreetly slips the sketch in Gabby’s bag. After school, Vic, Hank, and Big Ern catch Cal. They threaten Cal to take his complaint back and convince Talley to let Hank and Big Ern play the match. Cal pleads that he didn’t tell the teacher anything, and Talley acted independently, but Vic refused to hear his plea. The gang puts Cal in a trash bin and kicks him down the staircase.
The school counselor calls Cal to her office and inquires about his brawl with Vic near the football field. However, before Cal can speak, the football coach, Wilkes, brings Vic into the office. Wilkes blames Cal for stalking Gabby and slipping a sketch in her bag without permission. Feeling guilty, Cal quickly explains that nothing happens at the football field, and the counselor ends the discussion.
Cal stops thinking about Gabby and befriends a homeschooled girl named Cecily. They strike an unusual friendship. At Gabby’s request, Cal visits a party at Vic’s home, and uninvited Cecily crashes too. Cal and Cecily spend time together during the night, and Vic and his friend find the new couple sitting near the parking lot. To bully them, Vic locks Cal inside his car trunk and tries to touch Cecily inappropriately to take revenge on Cal for asking Gabby for a homecoming dance.
To take revenge on Vic, Cal fire-bombed Vic’s car. However, Hank saw Cal running away in his mother’s car with his dog Runt inside it during the retreat.
The Toxic Revenge[]
In fear, Cal skipped school the following day and bought brass knuckles to fight against Vic and his gang. Cal came to school, and his best friend, Borgie, lauded Cal’s retaliation. At this point, Borgie explained to Cal that he cut his bike’s chain in anger because Cal wasn’t doing anything against Vic and his bullies. After school, Vic and his gang cornered Cal and tried to hit him. Cal took out the knuckles from his bag and punched the gang, and broke Vic’s finger. Vic wouldn’t be able to play the football game with a broken finger, and he blamed Cal for it.
A rival gang invited Cal to a bowling party, and Cal felt confident and proud of his toxic fight in school. At night, Cal called Cecily home, and even she praised Cal’s reaction to his bullies. To spend the night with his new girl, Cal left Runt outside the house, and the following morning, a tragedy hit him.
In the morning, after Cecily left, Cal found out that someone killed his dog with a baseball bat and threw the body in the bin. In a fit of rage, Cal confronted Vic in school, but he denied the allegations. To take his revenge, Cal started stalking Vic and his gang. On the game night, Cal sneaked into the locker room and replaced Hank’s cocaine with Ajax Bleach Powder. During the half-time, Hank and Big Ern snorted the powder and burnt their nostrils with bleach. The coach called the doctors, and Vic’s team lost the match.
After the tragedy, Cal confronted Vic with a baseball bat and hit him. Under threat, Vic confessed to killing Runt and explained to Cal that he came to the house to beat him, but his dog started barking at him. In a way, Runt saved Cal’s life or saved him from injury, but he lost his life in the rescue.
Cal asked Vic to apologize for killing his dog, but an abusive and proud Vic refused. Vic was filled with toxic ego and pride and didn’t feel guilty about bullying Cal and killing his dog. Cal tried to hit Vic when Borgie came there with his mother’s gun to teach him a lesson. Cal patiently convinced Borgie not to use the gun and destroy their future. He took the gun from Borgie and asked him to leave. Vic ran away from there using the opportunity, and Cal followed him with a gun in his hand.
Ending[]
In the end, an enraged Cal pointed a gun at Vic and decided to make him pay with his life for killing Runt. Fortunately, Cecily found them before Cal could commit a grave crime and stopped Cal from pulling the trigger. She gave Cal the baseball bat with which Vic killed Runt. Cal hit Vic’s already fractured finger with the bat to give him a fatal injury that he would remember for a lifetime. After taking his revenge, Cal requested Cecily to run away, but she refused. Cecily wanted to share the punishment with Cal and thus decided to stay behind as the sirens arrived in the background.
Before the screen faded out, Cal and Cecily entered the homecoming dance event together. They held each other’s hands and comforted each other for the difficult time that was about to arrive. Probably, the police would arrest Cal for trying to kill Hank and Big Ern and assaulting Vic with a baseball bat. Maybe Vic would get away with killing Runt, but he learned a memorable lesson on the journey that he would probably remember before bullying anyone else in school or in life.
Abilities[]
| “ | Anyone tell you not to mess with a Madman? | „ |
| ~ Cal |
- Gifted Artist: In the film, Cal displays a talent for sketches and art drawing as the wall of his bedroom is filled with many unique creations so impressive that his art teacher and both Borgie and Cecily admire his work.
- High-level Intellect: Calvin has a very good grade level in each of his classes and he has accepted a scholarship to UCLA. However, over time, this ability made him a one-man army with useful skills in strategies, instincts, and tactics to get through life-threatening situations.
- Bowling Proficiency: Cal is a good bowler, for his education in mathematics aids him to strike and coordinate at the middle pin to knock the entire par down. It even supported him in socializing with Ronnie and the gang while at the same time boosting his confidence.
- Tactician: His intellect also has been demonstrated to make him a brilliant mastermind towards threatening situations. Such as when he attempt to sabotage Vic’s car he realizes the tires were too strong to cut with his knife, So Cal decides to pour charcoal lighter fluid all over the inside trunk of the vehicle before tossing a lit onto it causing it to burn. Afterwards he notice that Vic’s friends were coming after him and stops by a military supply shop to arm himself with protection against them. This was also very useful when he finds out that Vic killed Runt, he plotted to get revenge by seeing outside of the locker room that both Hank and Big Ern were concealing cocaine in their locker for the big game happening later tonight. Cal uses Roonie’s situation of being affected by the Ajax Bleach Powder by blending it with the coke which later the bullies inhale and the blood vessels in their brains began to burst to cause both of their hospitalizations. This manages to get Vic all alone to chase after Cal in the location where he laid his baseball bat to successfully ambush him with it.
- Expert Brawler: At first glance, Cal admitted he wasn’t a fighter but during the couple days of skipping school he was able to utilize his tactics, instincts, and speed in street fighting skills to single-handedly defend himself against bullies. When confronted by Vic, Hank, and Big Ern in a crowd of students they rapidly and repeatedly beat him on the ground. Until he reaches for his backpack to place brass knuckles onto his fist to quickly throw the first swing at Hank on the left side of his face knocking him out and giving him stitches, briefly caught off when Big Ern grabs his hand to remove the weapon from Calʼs fist only to get knee-kicked in the groin moaning to his knees on the ground then as Vic points his finger at Cal he blitzes his palm to quickly grab and snap it apart causing Vic huge complaint as his hand was in a cast the day after. Even when confronting Vic after the big game, Cal apprehended him in an ambush with his bat, before he kicks him in front of the face.
- Weapon Proficiency: Another trait that aids him in dealing with bullies is having proficiency with weaponry such as a pistol and melee weapons. Cal learned to shoot during his time with targeting practice with Borgie but was rarely shown, uses brass-knuckles to throw an increased strike enough to knock Hank unconscious, and his baseball bat to savagely hit Vic multiple times which severely damages his already crippled arm.
Equipment[]
- Ajax Bleach Powder: During the big game, Cal sneaks into the locker room to sabotage cocaine that both Hank and Big Ern would use by placing the bleach substance of Ajax.
- Bicycle: During the film, he rides this vehicle for personal transportation.
- Brass-Knuckles: Cal bought this melee weapon for self-defense against the bullies.
- Baseball Bat: After the death of Runt, he uses his bat he played fetch with him as a melee weapon at the big game.
- Revolver Pistol: In his time of hanging out with Borgie, Cal would shoot targets with his friend's revolver he stole from his mother. Later in the film he almost attempted to use it on Vic but refuses after Cecily held him back.
Quotes[]
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Trivia[]
- The film was Cameron’s final film appearance prior of his death the previous year the film was released.