The Death and Life of Bobby Z

I recently rewatched Bobby Z (2007) on Tubi. The storyline follows a former marine who is about to be sentenced to jail but gets an opportunity to escape his situation by impersonating a notorious drug dealer in a drug bust operation. However, things quickly spiral out of control, leading the marine to flee from both a drug cartel and the US government...

Directed by John Herzfeld (Don King: Only in America), this picture stars Paul Walker (The Fast and the Furious), Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), Olivia Wilde (Don't Worry Darling), Jason Flemyng (Deep Rising), and Chuck Liddell (Kick Ass 2).

This is a very straightforward and predictable addition to the action genre. The acting is somewhat uneven, causing some scenes to feel more authentic than others. However, Chuck Liddell was perfectly cast as a villain, and Laurence Fishburne's performance straddled the line perfectly, keeping viewers guessing about his character's intentions until the very end. Some of the fight scenes were enjoyable, and the shootouts were as expected.

In conclusion, Bobby Z is an average addition to the action genre that's worth watching once, but it doesn't offer anything particularly special. I would score it a 5/10.

For a seemingly low budget film, Bobby Z wasn't too bad. Moves pretty quickly, but with a weak storyline and plot, it is clear why it was a straight to DVD feature. Paul Walker does a decent job with a character that an Actor won't be able to do much with, except go with the flow. No real surprises, or twists and turns, just straight to the point B rated action. Actually has some pretty good fighting sequences and shoot outs. Laurence Fishburne is surprisingly cast as a supporting with a weak performance, mainly due to the script and content and possibly direction as well. Bobby Z is definitely a good B movie, with a rating of 5 overall considering everything listed above. All in all, this film is definitely worth watching if you're just chillin' with 97 minutes to spare. And Paul Walker is not nearly as bad an Actor as everyone tries to make him out to be. Have fun.

There is nothing much to be too excited of at this movie, but still entertaining. I wonder why it made its way to the silver screen because it's not better than dozens of Straight to Video productions. Storywise, you will get nothing more than you'd also get if you rent a Jean-Claude Van Damme Film. Same goes for "character development". There are some nice shootouts and fights, but nothing remarkable. It sometimes feels as if you were watching a film from the seventies: there is nothing really stylish or spectacular in the action scenes. Although it feels good to see movie that doesn't use the much common and enough-seen style of today's action flicks, the way this film shows the action seems out-dated. Also the film's pace should be higher, again it feels 70s-ish. As usual these days, there are some nice twists and turns in the story. Paul Walker does a decent job, but not as convincing as in "Running Scared". Laurence Fishburne he fails to put any life in his bad guy role. I am not impressed of Olivia Wilde in the leading female role. At least she tries hard to be more than decorative. 5/10

Paul walker, who died in 2013. He had made all those fast and furious films. He's tim kearney, just out of prison. Agent grusza (laurence fishburne) wants him to pretend to be the dealer bobby z so a hostage swap can be made. It's all pretty silly. The bad guys are all just terrible shots.. .they never seem to hit kearney, his horse, or bobby's son. And it moves so slowly...long pauses. And who says "he's heading south by southwest" ?? No-one. Maybe sailors. Most of the script is just silly and unlikely. And the feds don't really want kearney to succeed, for some reason. And it's so convoluted, we can see why. Imdb states this was filmed in 2005, but wikipedia says it was released in 2007, and went directly to video. Not usually a good sign. Directed by john herzfeld. Based on the book by don winslow. I'll give this one a "just okay".

The plot: Kearny, a loser convict,is pushed into impersonating Bobby Z, a larger-than-life drug dealer, in a hostage trade, only to find both his own and Bobby Z's enemies trying to kill him.

Herzfeld previously directed 2 Days in the Valley, a Tarantino ripoff if ever there was one. However, unlike most people, I actually kind of liked it. This movie is another attempt to clone Tarantino's style, heavy on flashbacks, stylized violence, and witty anti-heroes. Unfortunately, it's not all that great, but it did manage to keep my interest for the runtime.

Bobby Z is built up as a small-time celebrity in the local surfer scene, as well as a rising star in drug distribution. Kearney, on the other hand, is a three time loser with a price on his head. The movie compares and contrasts their personalities many times, with Bobby Z being revealed as a manipulative, egocentric jerk, while Kearney shows many admirable qualities despite his impulsive violence.

After a somewhat grim opening, the movie becomes quite lighthearted. In fact, I'm really at a loss as to why they even opened the movie with such a dark and disturbing bit of character development if they were just going to completely ignore it for the rest of the film. Oh well. Much of the movie is like this, however. Whenever anything shocking and dramatic happens, it's instantly forgotten by the next scene, where everyone pretends that it never happened. Even being shot seems to be glossed over rather quickly with some cursory first aid. It reminded me of a video game, where picking up a first aid kit heals your character of all wounds.

The acting was passable. It was certainly better than many direct-to-video movies, but nobody really stood out. I guess the script didn't really allow anyone to shine, though I was probably most disappointed that Laurence Fishburne was given such a bland role. Still, it's always fun to see him, even if it's in such a small and clichéd role.

If you're looking for an action movie, this will probably satisfy you, but I'd be surprised if you remembered it later or recommended it to your friends.