The trailer for Takers, a crime thriller starring T.I., Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Mr. Mope Hayden Christensen, and domestic violence supertar Chris Brown, is floating out there.
Sneh. Movie looks fine – the kind of thing I’d be happy to find playing on an airplane, or HBO when I’m hungover. What it doesn’t look though is interesting. Walker is an actor I’ve long rooted for (lil’ Walker starred in a childhood fav of mine, Monster in the Closert, 1986). He is a middling talent, sure, but he has an easy moviestar charm and more importantly, I liked how he was handling his career. While keeping his ship afloat with butts-in-seats films like The Fast and the Furious, he was groping around for diverting smaller films like Joyride and Into the Blue (yeah, I liked Into the Blue, shut up). Then with Running Scared, a flawed but wacko film, I thought he was demonstrating what kind of movie Paul Walker wanted “Paul Walker” to represent – interesting. That was four years ago. Now all we’re getting from Walker is banality like Takers and next year’s The Fastestest and Still Yet Furiouserest.
Walker and Chris Evans were both in a similar situation, but Evans really stuck to his guns. Evans is also a bit more talented than Walker, but it was smart career management that got him where he is. I don’t fault Walker for staying with his street racing money train, but if his One For Them/One For Me set up is yielding films like Takers he’s doomed. I don’t think “Paul Walker” means much of anything to anyone at the moment. Even the walking log Josh Hartnett is showing him up. Someone get this man a cameo in a Tarantino joint or playing the handsome idiot in a new Woody Allen film or… something! I fear soon he’s just going to give up and fall back on his perdy face, slipping in McConaughey mode.
Walker, come back to me! There’s still time!
UPDATE: I think people are taking my Walker/Evans analogy the wrong way. I intended the comparison to be on their relative careers, not relative talent. Maybe I should’ve gone with Wahlberg or Keanu. Nice to see the Evans love though.
