Paul Walker: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

4. Joey Gazelle €“ Running Scared (2006)

Cut forward just five years, and Walker has gone from ably leading a taut, high concept thriller to just about managing to keep his head above water in a sprawling, messy and downright insane crime thriller from Wayne Kramer, writer/director of William H Macy drama The Cooler. That's not meant to be a diss on Walker's performance by any stretch of the imagination, as his level-headed turn as a low-level mafioso is what stops this film from spiralling off into unwatchable madness. Instead, he grounds it a compelling, experimental thriller. Trying to find a coherent plot, cast of characters or any sort of meaning in Running Scared is like trying to pick out the subject of a Rohtko painting, or waiting for the drop in one of Brian Emo's ambient albums. The point isn't to try and puzzle it out, or predict what's coming next, but to just allow the experience to wash over you. You don't watch Running Scared. Running Scared is something that happens to you. Once the basic set up is out of the way €“ Walker's Joey Gazelle is tasked with disposing of a gun that was used to kill crooked cops, only for the weapon in question to wind up in the wrong hands €“ it's an orgy of blood-soaked, stylised violence. It's a weird, pulpy thriller comparable to The Warriors, and one which works because of Walker fronting it.