Greatest Actor of Our Generation

Let me start this blog with an apology to anyone expecting cute picture of Seth taking his first steps or of a Cunningham BBQ. I have hijacked the family blog for one of my random late night posts centered on one of my stranger guilty pleasures....Paul Walker.

Don't judge me just yet.

Before anyone gets any incorrect ideas about how he is a guilty pleasure, let me explain: I absolutely love movies and he is the actor whose movie I would most likely want to go see based on his track record.

When I watch or judge a movie, I mainly look for 2 things:

#1) Whether or not I was entertained

#2) Whether or not I would be entertained if I saw the movie additional times.

Based on those 2 simple criteria, I cannot think of an actor with a better track record than Paul Walker (PW). Whenever I am channel surfing and come across a PW movie, I 100% guarantee I will end up watching the rest of the movie if I am able. Think of it as the reverse of any Sean Penn movie.

There are several key factors that cause PW movies to stand out and stand up to my 2 criteria. The first is PW as an actor.

PW the Actor(ish).

PW is a fairly bad actor, which is lucky because that is a key component as to why his movies are so watchable. Here are some actual movie quotes:

2 Fast 2 Furious - "I know man, its getting thick real quick"

The Skulls - "You've been digging, Luke, and if you keep digging, you'll be digging your own grave"

I could watch this movie every Saturday

Timeline - "The way I see it, we've got what, we've got 650 years of knowledge on these guys. If we put our heads together, there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to get out of here and home in 20 minutes"

Pleasantville - "I don't know if I ever told you this before, but I think you're just about the keenest girl in the whole school" **This is not even close to his best quote in this movie but it was the cleanest. He literally steals every scene he is in.

His scenes are the best of the movie

PW's lack of talent is an asset in these movies because it makes the delivery of his lines acceptable. Whenever a really talented actor is forced to say bad lines, it makes the audience uncomfortable. Whenever a lesser talented actor says bad lines it is more likely to be entertaining and believable because the lines are within the audience's expectations for the performance. If any of his movie scenes were actually taking place in real life, I could honestly picture PW saying the lines as they appear in his movies. This is a strangely unique gift and makes me think PW would have been perfect for a gem like Independence Day.

PW Movies

This is where the track record of PW shines through. Almost without fail, the plots of PW movies are heavy on action/eye candy and extremely light on thinking or complexity. This is normally a crucial ingredient for the repetitive entertainment value of a movie. I may love movies like The King's Speech but I wouldn't want to watch it a couple of times a month.

Lets summarize some of his movies in 2 lines or less just to prove my point.

The Fast and the Furious

PW plays a cop who has to race cars undercover to solve a hijacking crime spree. He quickly develops a magical bond with the bad guys and is unsure what the right outcome should be.

This poster was screaming for an Oscar nod

Into the Blue

PW is a beachbum treasure hunter with a hot girlfriend who stumbles across a lost drug shipment and ocean treasure in the same calendar month. He has to figure out a way to escape the drug dealers while keeping his treasure.

Timeline

PW is the rebellious son of an archeologist who has to travel back in time to save his father. While time traveling, he must manage to outwit an entire midieval army.


None of these movies really seem to strain the mind but all involve adventure, romance and a lot of classic lines that only PW could pull off. Here is list of all the PW movies I would watch tomorrow if I came across them on tv: The Fast and Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Fast and Furious (4), Fast Five, Takers, Timeline, She's All That (yup), Joy Ride, Into the Blue, Eight Below, Pleasantville, The Skulls, and Varsity Blues. Some of those movies simply have PW in a small or supporting role but it doesnt matter because his formula for success is consistent throughout. There are actually some PW movies I still need to see but am confident would immediately fit my criteria (The Lazarus Project, Running Scared and The Death and Life of Bobby Z).

He has some blips (Noel and Flags of Our Fathers) that appear to violate his proven pattern but I think his overall body of work would trump the exceptions.

This entire column only proves how strange my fascination with PW movies are but at least I spared you a column on my fascination with Cher's Do you believe in life after love. Besides, we all have our guilty pleasure...I just don't hide mine very well.