I Am Paul Walker is a 2018 documentary exploring the life and times of the late movie star.
It’s been five years already since the death of actor Paul Walker, the Fast & Furious star who, despite a long history in the business, seemed to be taking the movies by storm. His loss was jarring, so unexpected, it sent shockwaves not just through the industry but among movie goers as well, many who probably came to learn more about his work after he was gone. Lots have been given to coverage of the accident, including Furious 7, dedicating the latest in the series he was working on to his memory, becoming the most successful film in the franchise. Now comes director Adrian Buitenhuis‘ new documentary I Am Paul Walker, a personal examination of the actor’s journey to stardom and its influence on his family and friends.
It’s not uncommon for a biographical documentary about a figure who has recently passed to take the high road and detail how good the person was, or how gifted or kind they could be, and you can be sure it’s no different here. However, there’s a genuine sense that Paul Walker really was the greatest guy you’d want to meet, the people gathered for this film earnestly describing a talented young man with a lust for life and powerful presence that was full of humility, honestly grateful for the opportunities his good looks and skills afforded him.
On camera are many members of his family and close friends, sharing photographs and home movies, tracking for us Paul’s circuitous path to Hollywood where, at a very young age, he was doing commercials and then television, earning the respect of greats like Michael Landon before getting larger parts in film. It takes us right to the casting of The Fast and the Furious (2001), with writer/director Rob Cohen detailing how he wrote the part for him and feeling after the premiere that things were about to change. How right he was.
We discover that Paul was never comfortable with stability, always on the move, exploring and searching for adventure, his dad describing – sometimes quite emotionally – his exploits as a younger man. He clearly had a thirst to do whatever he could to when he could, barely able to sustain himself with crushing debt as he struggled with what to make of his life, then committed himself to do what he could for others when he had the income to do so, a lot of it, including his effort in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, anonymous.
Naturally, knowing the tragic outcome, it’s often not easy to learn so much about the man, realizing where it’s going. It looms over the production from frame one, Buitenhuis careful to keep Paul himself nothing more than a good guy making a living and desperately hoping to be a worthy father. By the time it gets to the inevitable, it’s absolutely heartbreaking and if anything, completely humanizes the tragedy in a way that no news coverage was able to do.
Buitenhuis wisely keeps himself out of the film, letting those with the story tell their side without the need to answer questions, just opening up and revealing how Paul affected them each. It’s a quite experience, never manipulative, simply driven to give some depth behind the thousand-watt smile that made so many swoon. Tyrese Gibson is the only member of the actual Fast & Furious cast to speak on camera, which is probably also a good thing as this is not meant to be a star-studded cameo film but rather a small familial experience, which, given the theme of his most popular movies, seems more than fitting. Highly-recommended.