The Death & Life of Bobby Z

Starring: Paul Walker, Laurence Fishburne, & Olivia Wilde

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Isn't it funny, how the movies you really don't expect much out of, turn out to be the most fun. Bobby Z wasn't something that was high on my list of things to see, but it was streaming and fit my mood, so I watched it and what a surprise, a well written, Action film, with a pretty good plot! Bobby Z is a legendary local crime boss in Southern California. He is a very elusive man that the Mexican drug lords go to extreme measures to find. Don Huertero (Joaquim de Almeida) has kidnapped an FBI agent and will only exchange him for Bobby Z, but there's a problem, Bobby Z is dead. The clever folks at the FBI decide to find someone who looks like Z and send him in, that man is Tim Kearney (Paul Walker), and his life depends on how well he can trick people into believing that he is Bobby Z, a man he's never met. Paul Walker is the star of this clever film and he does a tremendous job. I'm not fan of Walker's, whenever he does anything that isn't a gritty Action film, he stinks, fortunately this is a gritty Action film and he was engaging, delightful, and even funny as he tried to play someone he's not. As for the rest of the cast, it was certainly a unique mix of people, but being centered around one man and one goal, really made it work. It's unusual to find a deep plot in an Action film and that's why this film was so unique. Aside from some terrific stunts and fight scenes, there were twists and turns, crosses and double-crosses, even some humor. Bobby Z was really a lot of fun to watch, and it will keep you guessing while at the same time showing you some terrific action sequences, I was more than impressed by this film and by Paul Walker for that matter. It's easy to say, well he's been playing an undercover agent in The Fast & Furious for a decade now, but it certainly wasn't the same thing. The Death & Life of Bobby Z is a wild ride, that's a lot of fun, and it will keep you guessing, you can't ask for more than that.