TAKE PAUL WALKER FOR INSTANCE...
Published  February 26, 2008  
||Source – SouthCoastToday.com

After encountering blizzard caliber snow flurries on a recent trip to Philadelphia I found myself holed up in an apartment with unlimited access to the revolutionary cable invention known as On Demand. While this slick service allows viewers to mindlessly select movies at will it also allows access to HBO television series, if you happen to be a paying subscriber that is.

Needless to say I dabbled in an excessive amount of HBO as the snow piled up outside, delaying my exodus by almost a full day. My drug of choice was the second season of “Entourage,” a series developed by Mark Wahlberg that essentially follows an up and coming actor from New York as he and his posse of obnoxious friends invade the LA scene, landing various acting gigs to keep the living lavish.

The main character of this program is Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and the series centers around his new found stardom. He’s kind of a flake, relatively naive, and questionably talented (at least based on some of the cheeky film/television clips the series produces of Vincent in action.) The character, however flawed he may be, does appear to be very grounded and often resembles a fish out of water, trying desperately to enjoy whatever fame he can get. What I particularly liked about “Entourage” was the week-to-week adventures of

trying to land a big Hollywood role (AKA a paycheck) while also keeping ties to independent cinema a priority as well. Does Vincent throw on a pair of tights and portray Aquaman or does he express interest in a skiing flick since Josh Hartnett has little to no hand-eye coordination? When his hesitation with signing onto Aquaman leads to interest in Leonardo DiCaprio it could mean both films will roll on without him.

There are some rather clever narratives in “Entourage” and it’s interesting to relate the show’s main character to actual actors in the industry. Take Paul Walker for instance. Now here’s a guy that’s made a name for himself by scouting the teen romantic comedy circuit, the teen sports film circuit, and the terrain of fast and furious automobiles, also aimed at the teen market.

Walker’s had a decent career thus far, peaking with the first two The Fast and the Furious movies and recently topping the weekly box office charts with the lead role in Eight Below, a Disney movie about some Huskies in peril.

With 25th Hour Spike Lee centered on a man’s last chance for redemption, hours before he is to begin a prison sentence that he is not mentally, or physically, prepared for. The “Fuck You” montage, which enlists the narration of the film’s protagonist (played by Edward Norton) to lash out at the post-9/11 community of New York, was the most widely discussed portion of 25th Hour.

Another film you may have heard about this week is Running Scared, also with Walker in the lead role. Take a quick look at the poster and it may remind you of the vintage Sharky’s Machine one sheet. The poster’s got grit, but does Walker? Well, give the guy points for trying. In a world full of recycled entertainment there may be nothing more off putting than highly stylized gangster fare. That is exactly what Running Scared is, only it’s worse than you could ever imagine. It’s got lousy characters that are of the redundant “offbeat” variation, begging the viewer to watch something like Tony Scott’s True Romance for some better ones. In addition to a lame cast it’s

got set pieces that center around black lights, sawed off shotties, some hockey pucks, and retirement home mob bosses that whine more than their grandchildren probably do.

And then you have Paul Walker, sporting a Jersey accent and playing a questionable character that supposedly has good intentions.

Now, to correlate the opening “Entourage” rant with Running Scared even further, I will attempt to give Paul Walker some sound career advice. Go independent, Paul. Running Scared, writer/director Wayne Kramer’s follow-up to the dreadful Cooler doesn’t count. Change things from the inside instead of simply repackaging yourself. Play an older brother, play a heroin addict, or play a supporting role in an ensemble piece. Just leave movies like Running Scared for people with nothing to prove.

I have a feeling that Walker’s decision to star in Running Scared consisted of a career revitalization, most likely spawning from some discussions with his agent (very much like the content of “Entourage.”) Maybe Walker was just really sick of flashing his abs for nearly two hours in the recent Into the Blue and teen audiences are now fixated on younger stars, leaving poor Paul with a mid-career crisis.

It is my opinion that Paul Walker has some serious potential beyond the realm of Hollywood teen heartthrob, something nonsense like Running Scared only pretends to assure. With an upcoming role in Clint Eastwood’s World War II film Flags of Our Fathers Walker is definitely on the right path, and maybe he’ll even take some advice from his career smart co-star Jesse Bradford, someone successfullyclimbing the ranks of independent cinema the right way.

Honestly, it will only take just a few wise choices and Paul Walker will no longer be the Malibu poster boy that he has been promoted as for a decade. Sneaking away from the third Fast and Furious film was the first of many decisions that will seal Walker’s fate, since a Hollywood career must be played like a game of chess.