Running Scared

            This movie definitely has it’s moments, and is a 2. I just want to say that in front of what I am going to say about this movie, since this is possibly the most disturbing movie I’ve seen in a long time. We enter a land of criminals, a land where there are no goods. Just cops, regular people and criminals, and of course, Joey Gazelle (Paul Walker, 2 fast 2 furious), our fearless scumbag hero, is the protagonist. He leads a normal life, a wife and kid, concern for the neighbor hood, and of course, clean up boy for the local mobsters.

            He’s also fiercely American, and is an anti-russic xenophobe. OF course, his next-door neighbour is Russian, and a tweeker, and the owner of a meth lab, and a family abuser. He’s also obsessed with John Wayne, and the nephew of a Russian mob boss. And of course, his kid, Oleg (Cameron Freeman) and Nicky Gazelle are best friends.

            Things erupt when Joey takes a chrome .38 special snubnose from the mob, which was used to shoot a dirty cop, whose partner (Chazz Palminteri, The Usual Suspects) is pursuing the case. Oleg finds the gun, shoots his dad, and splits, and the cops are on the way. Joey springs into action, seeking tp preserve Oleg, retrieve the gun, and hide the evidence from the cops.

            Things get out of hand as little Oleg runs through the city, meeting, among other things, a crack addict, a pimp, a friendly hooker, the crooked cop, and finally he falls into the clutched of a couple child porn addicts. This is possibly the freakiest part of the whole family as he runs scared through the night. Eventually he gets separated from the gun, and the both dance into the placid and brilliant night.

            The whole story comes back full circle at the end, and is altogether ruined by an overly happy ending. It’s kind of hollow, and Paul Walker plays the character too angry, but the style is what really catches my attention. This movie is stylized out of its ears. Similar to Behind Enemy Lines, starring Owen Wilson, this movie is more style than it is substance. I really enjoyed it, but it’s bizarre. A person who doesn’t actually like movies as movie,s won’t like this movie.