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Running Scared

The director of The Cooler returns with this Paul Walker vehicle. It was a fluke.

By BRETT MICHEL | March 1, 2006

1.0 Stars

RUNNING SCARED: Paul Walker's new film is for the dogs.

A week after Paul Walker’s beloved sled dogs began their heartwarming fight for survival in Disney’s Eight Below, it’s Walker who needs saving — his new film is for the dogs. He plays Joey Gazelle (would I make this up?), a low-level Garden State Mafioso charged with stashing a gun that was used to kill a “dirty cop.” This being Jersey, it’s only natural that next-door neighbor Anzor (Karel Roden) would be a John Wayne–worshipping, crystal-meth-addicted member of the Russian Mob. While playing with Joey’s young son, Anzor’s stepson Oleg (Cameron Bright) swipes the cop-killing “gat,” shoots his abusive stepfather, and runs. Joey must overcome pimps, ho’s, and hockey pucks to retrieve the gun before it’s too late. By the time the pederast murderers appear, it’s clear that writer/director Wayne Kramer’s The Cooler was a fluke — and there’s nothing cool about that.

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