“He was the guy that every woman wanted to be with, and every man wanted to be like.” – Tyrese Gibson
A Big Hollywood Star
On first blush, one may ask – why do we need a documentary about a pretty boy Hollywood actor known mainly for driving fast cars in mainstream Neal Moritz movies. Featuring 30 minutes over the originally aired TV version, I Am Paul Walker is a new release for VOD and DVD releasing at the end of November 2018.
I decided to take on the assignment because we shared acting managers, and a friend of mine was his assistant for a few years – and became quite close with him, and so I wanted to do it out of service to her relationship.
But as soon as the film opens, you quickly realize that this is a movie about life by example. Rife with his closest family, friends, and team, it’s a delicate and loving film filled with compassion and inspiration. Rare and previously unseen home movies and behind the scenes anecdotes make this the real deal.
Yes it is constantly focused on the handsome, charismatic and popular subject, but there a new dimension added here about how someone who seemingly has everything can also be kind and modest and touch so many lives from that point of energy.
On the one hand, he was warm-hearted, charitable, inclusive. On the other Paul got into a lot fights when he was younger: “He seldom lost. He had a tough dad and had a lot to live up to.” “He was kind of a bro guy.”
He had an affinity for adrenaline-inducing activities – whether it was tagging white sharks for scientific research, race car driving, surfing, snowboarding or stunts. And while on the one hand he would book or get a callback for anything he went out on, there was the side that was hounded by bill collectors.
We have here a contemporary film that looks again at the treacherous path that Hollywood affords its most beloved. I can’t help but watch this with the morbid curiosity for how I might, were I ever to be in his position, be remembered by my closest allies. I try to determine whether this is just a fluff piece, a fan film or a bona fide documentary that extends into something more meaningful than a loving obituary.
Gravitas
As it moves into the birth of his child, which collides with his career exploding, his parents separating, and trying to balance his personal desires for a life with the demands of Hollywood, the film becomes a meditation on how to negotiate a life, and identify priorities.
The film moves on to highlight Walker’s to commitment to marine biology and sharks, his dedication to humanitarian work through his NGO, Reach Out Worldwide and even taking off to Haiti in the wake of the earthquake to help people on the ground. And in between deftly weaves in his growing interest in owning fast cars.
It’s interesting to look at the things from the other perspective – rather than that of wishing one had money, looks and fame, what it means to find a life when one does. And it humanizes him and the people who were close. I note even my own cynicism, coming into this assignment, and am acutely reminded that we can’t make blanket judgments about people through narrow and myopic lenses; a true peril in this age of clickbait and soundbytes.
How To Save A Life
When you will never have to worry about money again, what becomes worth fighting for is connecting with your daughter, connecting with community, friends, family. This is the pursuit that money cannot solve. Moreover, Paul Walker focused on putting more good in the world and living every second to the fullest.
In the end, it is important to remember that everyone, even the most seemingly mythic avatars from Mount Olympus, are people, and they bleed, and they hurt, and they yearn and they affect others.
In that, there is a value here for anyone.
I Am Paul Walker releases on VOD November 30th, 2018 and DVD December 4th, 2018.
Available at www.iampaulwalker.com
Watch the trailer for “I Am Paul Walker”