Plot: A thief gets a shot at a major heist where he must outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the world’s richest man
Review: Parker is an iconic character in the world of hard-boiled crime literature. Created by Richard Stark (the pen name for prolific author Donald E. Westlake) for the 1962 novel The Hunter, Parker has been played on the big screen by an esteemed list of actors, including Lee Marvin, Robert Duvall, Jason Statham, and Mel Gibson. The newest adaptation of the character comes in the new movie Play Dirty, starring Mark Wahlberg as Parker. Rather than a straight adaptation of a single Stark novel, Play Dirty pulls elements from multiple books in the series to create an original thrill ride that blends aspects of heist movies, hard-boiled detective stories, and sultry film noir. Featuring Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, LaKeith Stanfield, Nat Wolff, Tony Shalhoub, and more, Play Dirty is a fun return to form for Shane Black after the underwhelming The Predator, despite not hitting quite the same bar raised by Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or The Nice Guys.
The protagonist of twenty-four novels by Stark, Parker is a renowned criminal with a strict code of efficiency and professionalism who refuses to murder unless necessary, as it would bring too much attention from the authorities. Parker also will not kill someone he is working with, but as soon as that job ends, he will dispatch them ruthlessly. Parker should be a thoroughly unlikeable character with few redeeming qualities, something that is hard to convey on screen. Play Dirty gives us a Parker who is not afraid to make enemies as he navigates a standing feud with the New York organized crime conglomerate known as The Outfit. In this film, Parker has already been excommunicated from New York by Outfit honcho Lozini (Tony Shalhoub) but is drawn back in when a massive heist opportunity comes his way courtesy of Zen (Rosa Salazar). Begrudgingly partnering with Zen, Parker assembles a team of thieves to undertake an enormous job at the United Nations, the central plot element of the movie.
At just over two hours, Play Dirty is a long movie. Opening with a solid heist-turned-chase sequence that will definitely bother fans of horse racing, the introduction to Mark Wahlberg as Parker shows us his steadfast professionalism as well as his brutality when it is required. The movie also boasts an extended title sequence that echoes the famous James Bond introductions, giving the sense that MGM and Amazon hope to turn this film into a franchise. Wahlberg is well-suited to the role of Parker, despite not straying too far from his typical cinematic persona. The most significant difference between this character and Wahlberg’s turns in Spenser Confidential, The Union, and The Family Plan may be the amount of profanity he can utter. Mark Wahlberg is reliably familiar in his performances. While he does benefit from snappy Shane Black dialogue, Parker is often relegated to second fiddle compared to the other characters in the cast. Rosa Salazar gets to play a modern take on the femme fatale character, while Tony Shalhoub chews the scenery as the primary villain. However, all seem to be having much more fun compared to Wahlberg, who plays his role as stoic, straight, and serious.
The supporting players are all good and reminded me of the ensemble in Brian Helgeland and Mel Gibson’s Payback. Like Play Dirty, Payback gave us a protagonist who played it pretty monotone while the supporting cast had the most fun. Here, we get some solid turns by Keegan-Michael Key and Claire Lovering as married members of Parker’s crew, as well as Chai Hansen as getaway driver Stan Devers, Chukwudi Iwuji as Phineas Paul, and Nat Wolff as Kincaid. There are also smaller turns from Gretchen Mol and Thomas Jame that set up the start of the film, but the real standout is LaKeith Stanfield. Stanfield portrays Parker’s closest friend, Grofield, a former criminal-turned-thespian who yearns to act more than anything. Stanfield has had a fantastic presence in virtually every role to date, but the balance he brings to Grofield opposite Wahlberg’s Parker makes me wish this film were more of a buddy movie than it is. Rosa Salazar and LaKeith Stanfield work well with Wahlberg, but they all cannot overcome the narrative nonsense of this movie’s plot.
Shane Black directs Play Dirty from a screenplay he co-wrote with his The Nice Guys partner, Anthony Bagarozzi, and Road House reboot scribe Chuck Mondry. Black has always had a knack for dialogue that crackles, and there is plenty of that in Play Dirty. The best moments in the film come from the rapid-fire back-and-forth between characters, especially the leading trio of Wahlberg, Salazar, and Stanfield. But witty one-liners and comebacks only get you so far when the plot is virtually impossible to make sense of. Alan Silvestri’s jazzy score adds some gravitas to the film’s momentum, but it feels like Black and his co-writers were determined to make a tentpole action movie out of what should have been a contained heist thriller. The plot draws inspiration from stories like The Maltese Falcon, but attempts to build its complexity into that of behemoth projects like Uncharted. I often felt like Play Dirty was Ocean’s Eleven masquerading as Indiana Jones, something that doesn’t quite work if you dig under the surface.
Play Dirty is a fun movie that works well enough. Had this movie been a straight heist thriller with comedic elements, it likely would have worked better, but that does not prevent the film from being a fun ride. If you are a fan of Mark doing his Wahlbergiest, then you will enjoy Play Dirty. As a fan of the source material, I feel that Jason Statham and Mel Gibson were closer to the Parker from the written page, but Shane Black’s interpretation is still a good deal of fun. Play Dirty is a decent introduction to a new potential franchise, and I would be open to seeing sequels with Wahlberg and Stanfield in the years to come. While not quite as good as The Nice Guys or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Play Dirty is still a fun return to form for Shane Black.
Play Dirty is now available to stream on Prime Video.
Source:
JoBlo.com
