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.