| The Death and Life of Bobby Z | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Herzfeld |
| Written by |
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| Based on | The Death and Life of Bobby Z by Don Winslow |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John Bailey |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Tim Jones |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group [1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 97 minutes |
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| Budget | $8 million |
| Box office | $413,454 [3] |
The Death and Life of Bobby Z, also known as Bobby Z and Let's Kill Bobby Z, is a 2007 American-German action film, directed by John Herzfeld, and starring Paul Walker, Laurence Fishburne, Olivia Wilde and Joaquim de Almeida. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group released the film direct-to-video in the United States. [4] Don Winslow, who wrote the novel on which the film is based, acknowledged that the screen adaptation was not successful. [5]
Don Huertero is a Mexican drug lord. His daughter committed suicide because a drug dealer known as Bobby Z broke her heart. Consequently, Don Huertero is out for vengeance. In trepidation, Bobby Z seeks shelter in an American embassy. From there, he is handed over to federal agent Tad Gruzsa.
In order to get hold of Bobby Z after all, Don Huertero takes Art Moreno, a colleague of Gruzsa, as hostage and proposes an exchange. Bobby Z knows Don Huertero will not rest until he believes him dead. Being worried sick, he bribes Gruzsa. Now, Gruzsa conceives a plan to deceive Don Huertero. He wants to make Don Huertero believe Bobby Z was dead without harming the real Bobby Z.
When the exchange is supposed to take place, Gruzsa replaces Bobby Z. In his stead, the clueless doppelgänger Tim Kearney, a former Marine and an inmate, crosses the border. During the exchange, Gruzsa incites a gunfight and tries to shoot the doppelgänger dead. Even so, Tim scarcely survives. He eventually teams up with Bobby Z’s child, Kit, who is being raised by Elizabeth. Gruzsa keeps on trying to kill him, but he fails time after time. Despite all his efforts, it is the real Bobby Z who is taken down. Tim, on the other hand, finds love with Elizabeth.
The film is based on a 1997 novel of the same name by Don Winslow. [6] The novel was positively reviewed by several newspapers. [7] [8] [9] [10]