Who's Bobby Z? John Herzfeld is a filmmaker who has not had enough stars from the sky in his career, even though he has worked with Robert De Niro himself ("15 Minutes of Fame (2001)), but he has not won any laurels. Therefore, it is not surprising that the major film companies eventually refused to work with the idea of crime detective Don Winslow’s “The Death and Life of Bobby Z” (the original translation of his novel). In the end, the light still saw this film, but immediately only on DVD, bypassing the theatrical rental. It should be said that the cast of the film, which received the name "Foundation" at our box office, is quite solid: Paul Walker, who became a megastar after the action "Fast and Furious", the unforgettable Morpheus from the "Matrix" Lawrence Fishburne, the star of "House Doctor" Olivia Wilde, and Guy Richie actor Jason Fleming, Kate Carradine, da Joaquim de Almeida, who always plays mafia bosses from Latin America.
With such a composition one should expect something sophisticated, with shooting and ingenious combinations, the eternal struggle of the police and criminals as messengers of good and evil, although in the cinema they sometimes change places. In general, the plot turned out to be very good, some scenario twists are surprising, because such grand pianos in the bushes, despite all the routine and standardity in the development of "Setting up" are somewhat not expected. If the director managed to correctly place the accents, creating a climax scene at an unexpected turn, then the film itself would only win. But John Herzfeld was unable to do so. As if casually he showed scenes that could make the picture better, become interesting in its essence, with its riddles and its individuality. But John Herzfeld shot quite himself such a trivial criminal detective with a handful of drama and action movie.
The whole hard fate of “pulling” the tape fell on the shoulders of the actors. When you watch The Frame, you realize that Paul Walker was in great shape in those years. And not only in its Lyceum display, but also in physical form. As an actor, he without mistake was drawn into the atmosphere of the picture and instantly turned into the main character, which was interesting to follow. And his physical form was demonstrated in several scenes of short fights. This is not a pompous video with a bunch of cool tricks, this is a verified production with a martial art style. It may not have been so suitable for the crime film "Fraud," but it still looked spectacular. Paul Walker created the image of a rebel, no one has authority, but he is not deprived of normal, human qualities. The fact that his hero protects the son of a complete stranger, and even indirectly guilty of the story in which Walker’s character was involved, spoke not about the possible benefit, but about the courage of Walker’s hero. It is a pity that such an actor left us in the prime of life.
Lawrence Fishburne plays the role of a puppeteer in the shadows (as he himself thinks), besides leading his game clearly, conceiving a clever and profitable combination for himself (he thought so). He still knows how to suppress a person with his charisma, as soon as he leans on the table and hangs his round face over the opponent and he immediately loses his position. That's how he would be in Morpheus, but here in "The Frame," Fishburne clearly wanted to move away from the sticky association, to show that he's an actor and a different role. In principle, not everything is so smooth, but something clearly he succeeded. In an erotic, desirable style appears Olivia Wilde. The actress can handle other roles, but in this case she had to look both temptation and victim of circumstances. She was already in the lead roles in the films “Genius Ideas” and “Touristas”, but here she appeared in a more favorable light, so “Shaming” gave her a chance to prove herself and she did it. For her words “Only not on the face” the heart shrinks, how you can touch this fragile girl! Kate Carradine, Jason Fleming, Joaquim de Almeida played their roles, nothing more and nothing less.
The good idea of “Foundation” was broken by bad direction, but thanks to good actors, the film looks with interest. For the colonels of the genre, a very suitable pastime, if you do not approach the "Shaming" biased.
7 out of 10