Posts tagged Paul Walker
Review: Running Scared (2006)

Note: This article was originally published in Technician on February 24, 2006.

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'Running' at an explosive pace

Paul Walker seems intent on making a name for himself. Last week he gave us Eight Below, and this week he stars in the action flick Running Scared. But if the latter is any indication, movie-goers can look forward to finally getting out of the cinema "dry season" -- January and February -- which typically delivers little worth watching. This film is surprisingly good, believe it or not.

Walker stars as mobster Joey Gazelle who, instead of dispensing guns after a mob hits, hides them in his basement. When his son's best friend uses one of these guns to shoot his abusive stepfather, it's a race against time to find the weapon before the cops and the kingpins. Walker delivers his best performance yet, shedding his Keanu-esque woodenness for some genuine emotion.

The film's greatest flaw is it settles for hit-and-miss in regards to its story. Many characters are flat and caricatured, while others become, at best, two-dimensional. The plot has a variety of twists, some of which feel tacked on and contrived, but others add a surprising amount of emotion to an otherwise purely testosterone-driven film. For example, the movie's shining moment involves an emotional and thematic punch that left the audience literally cheering for more.

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Review: Eight Below (2006)

Note: This article was originally published in Technician on February 17, 2006.

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Eight cool dogs, one mediocre film

The first rule of studio filmmaking: If it made money once, it's worth doing again and again. It hasn't even been a month since Disney released Glory Road, but that doesn't faze the production company, which seems intent on capitalizing on every "inspirational true life event."

Disney's Eight Below claims to be "the most amazing story of [insert feel-good word here] ever told." Strange, I thought the last half dozen movies were supposed to be that too.

Poor marketing aside, Eight Below has the strongest plot concept of this type of film in years. Rather than focusing on people overcoming incredible obstacles, it revolves around a team of eight sled dogs that are left to fend for themselves in Antarctica during the winter. Their owner, Gerry Shepherd (Paul Walker), does everything in his power to get back to Antarctica to save them, but will he make it in time?

What do you think?

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