The Death and Life of Bobby Z

Tim Kearney, a former Marine serving time in prison, is offered a way out by DEA agent Tad Gruzsa. The deal requires him to pose as Bobby Z, a drug lord who has recently died, during a hostage exchange with a powerful criminal. When the handover collapses into gunfire, Kearney goes on the run with Bobby Z's twelve-year-old son, pursued by both sides and uncertain of the full scheme he has been drawn into.

The film is an adaptation of Don Winslow's novel, directed by John Herzfeld and released in 2007. It is his fourth feature, following 2 Days in the Valley and 15 Minutes, and it sits between those earlier crime dramas and the later Reach Me and Escape Plan: The Extractors. Paul Walker, who also produced, plays Kearney, with Laurence Fishburne as Gruzsa and Olivia Wilde as Elizabeth. The screenplay is credited to Winslow, Bob Krakower and Allen Lawrence, and the production, mounted by Millennium Media and Eclectic Pictures, carried a budget of about 22 million dollars.

Audience response has been moderate: on TMDB the film holds a 6.2 rating from 414 votes, a middling figure for a star-led action thriller. The credited cast of 36 and crew of 44 reflect a mid-sized production typical of the period.