Bobby Z (DVD)

When it went into production it was known as The Death and Life of Bobby Z, but ultimately it never got picked up for theatrical distribution and once Sony picked it up for DVD release it just became Bobby Z. I have grown to enjoy these direct-to-DVD releases, not because they are good movies, but because I know I need to go into them with low expectations and occasionally you come out with a film you enjoyed watching. Unfortunately for Bobby Z you are going to have to lower your expectations and then lower them again and maybe one more time to get into this one.

Paul Walker stars as Tim Kearney, a fella that just can't seem to do things right and ends up with three strikes and on his way to a lifetime in prison when the DEA takes a liking to him. The pitch is that Kearney looks just like the legendary drug dealer Bobby Z who is apparently dead and the DEA needs Kearney to imitate him in an effort to infiltrate his organization. In exchange for his services his record will be wiped clean and he'll be a free man. Such a deal right? Wrong!

Bobby Z is a film with plenty of double crosses, little Mexican children, sexy white chicks, guns, motorcycles, explosions and people that think they are far cooler than they actually are. To top it all off, none of it works and it is silly as hell, just as is any other movie when one person tries to impersonate someone else. It never works with the "close friends" don't yah know, and as Elizabeth (Olivia Wilde) says, "A girl knows who she is making love to." Blech, gimme a break, this is bad even by direct-to-DVD standards.

Laurence Fishburne doesn't help himself out any playing a cowboy hat wearing buckaroo leader of the DEA. Fish's performance is exactly what you would expect, too cool for school, and nobody is buying it. Doesn't anyone know that when the last line of the synopsis on the back of the DVD reads, "Also starring UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Chuck Liddell," that you are in for trouble?

The only feature on the disc is a making-of featurette that was made when the movie was actually called The Death and Life of Bobby Z, which I found humorous considering they could have at least taken five minutes to edit it to the new title. The best is when one of the producers says that the story of Bobby Z is classic and one that will be told forever. Uh, no it won't.

I can't recommend you pick this one up for any reason. I would say look for it on cable if you must see it, but I don't think it will ever find its way on there. This one is just a mistake, let's forgive those involved and move on.