February 23, 2006

By GARY COGILL / WFAA-TV

Gary Cogill is an award-winning film critic for WFAA-TV in Dallas. Gary has been interviewing actors, writers and directors since the mid-1980s and is a nationally recognized film critic.

In the intense and violent new independent gangster film called Running Scared, Paul Walker plays a low-level mobster who disposes of "hot" guns for a living. And in this case, what happens to one of those guns could mean life or death for his own family.

You know Paul Walker from his previous movies, including Joy Ride, The Fast and the Furious, Varsity Blues and Eight Below.

Walker said Running Scared is a dark movie that reminds him of Scarface because of its extreme nature.

Even though the movie has received a lot of mixed reviews, Walker said the criticism doesn't bother him personally because it was a project he wanted to be part of creatively.

He credited director Wayne Kramer with urging him to go for broke every day and exorcise the demons.

Walker said he signed up for another of his films, "Eight Below," because it reminded him of one of his favorite movies, "Old Yeller." He said it was a heart-warming movie that left him with a postiive outlook.