Bobby Z (2007)

Directed by John Herzfeld
Written by Bob Krakower & Allen Lawrence
Based on the Book by Don Winslow

So, I get to rent movie before they come out at Blockbuster, and this was one of the few that looked remotely interesting, plus I watched the trailer a while back on Apple.com and it looked like there was a possibility of it being cool.

The story goes like this: Gruza (Laurence Fishburn) is a DEA agent, whose partner is being held by a Mexican mafia don called Don Huerta. There's a legendary LA drug dealer named Bobby Z, who vanished after two of his top people were murdered in Riverside, CA. Now to get his partner back, Gruza has only one choice, bring Don Huerta the man known as Bobby Z for a trade. Few people have ever seen Bobby Z, and now he has disappeared to somewhere where no one can find him, many people think Thailand or somewhere like that.

So Gruza goes to Tim Kearny (Paul Walker) an inmate in a local prison, a three-time loser as they say, who has sealed his own fate in prison after killing an ABer named Mad Dog (Chuck Fuckin' Liddel). Now the Aryan Brotherhood wants him dead, and Gruza offers him a deal: Become Bobby Z and get his partner back, and then from there he is free to do what he can or wants. He can take his chances on the outside, or take his chances in prison, which are no good at all. Kearny is an ex-marine, so he has all the fighting skills and bad assery you would expect out of such a person, so he gladly accepts the challenge of becoming Bobby Z.

Of course, this is where the movie takes off, he has trouble living as Bobby Z, running into people that know Bobby well, and has trouble fibbing his way out of these situations. Now, for a persona that's not a fan of Paul Walker really at all, I found this to be quite the enjoyable ride. The twists and turns aren't confoundedly amazing, and they don't shock, suprsise, or teach you anything. Still, it's a mostly entertaining movie, with a lot of the usual action and bloodshed, and the plot and story are interesting enough to keep you entertained for the 90 minutes or so of the runtime.

7.6/10