Running Scared (2006)

Paul Walker
Vera Farmiga
Chazz Palminteri
Karl Roden
Johnny Messner
Ivana Milicevic

Directed by Wayne Kramer

Plot: For over a decade Joey Gazelle has successfully juggled his conflicting roles as both loving family man and a low-level employee of the Italian Perello mob in Grimley, New Jersey. However, when Joey ignores the mob's explicit instructions to dispose of a gun used in the fatal shooting of a corrupt cop during a bungled drug buy, he unwittingly puts his entire family in immediate danger

Review: I am not a fan of Paul Walker and think about the only good movie he has been in was the first Fast and the Furious and even that wasn’t that great. I saw the trailer for this film before it came out at the theater and thought it looked kind of cool, but with Paul Walker in it, I figured it was just another stinky pile of crap so I wasn’t going to bother.

Boy was I wrong! This movie kicked major ass! Finally a movie with an R rating that uses it. The movie has a fairly basic storyline, but enough twists and turns to make it interesting. I really liked the cinematography in the film. It reminded me of the way they shot Man on Fire, which I love. Paul Walker gives a great performance, the best of his career. The other characters in the film are interesting and really bring the story together. As I watched this film I found myself getting caught up in the search for this missing gun and even getting frustrated when different things got in his way.

This movie is extremely violent, with numerous shootouts and graphic deaths. It has been some time since I saw something happen to someone in a movie that actually made me think, holy crap! The only problem I had with this film was that it ended. I first found myself thinking, is he ever going to find this thing, only to find myself at the end thinking, it can’t be over yet. Without spoiling anything, there is a moment in the film that actually made me cheer, only because it made me think, finally someone takes care of business the way they should! (Can you find this moment? Let me know if you can guess what it is…). I went into this movie thinking it would be some generic action film and left loving it.


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