Even though Running Scared hit with all of the impact of a sneeze, it managed to change the way I saw Paul Walker. That is to say…I realized he had a pulse. There wasn’t a lot of convincing proof before then as every role he’d taken required little of him but to smile and stare blankly as he reacted to things. But here, he was a compelling lead in a very kinetic story that just got crazier as the running time went on. I remember leaving the theater actually looking forward to where he would go from there, which seemed inconceivable just a few hours earlier. Alas, Flags Of Our Fathers came and went, an while he hasn’t done a whole lot since, he continues to rack up starring roles.
In fact, he’s re-teaming with the producers behind Eight Below, the cutesy animal flick that came out juuuust before Running. This new film is an independently financed thriller called The Heaven Project, which is being billed as a psychological thriller and a love story.
Maybe this will show that the guy has a better eye for material than he’s had in the past. I think there’s a lot of charisma and spark that has yet to be fully tapped within the guy, and he’s deserves a chance or two to show it off.