Play Dirty, Hollywood Film Review, Picks And Piques, Johnson Thomas
Hollywood Film Review
Johnson Thomas
Busy, Entertaining Action-Comedy
Film: Play Dirty
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Lakeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nat Wolff
Director: Shane Black
Rating: * * *
Runtime: 125 m
#AmazonPRIME #MXPlayer
Parker, the career thief from Donald E. Westlake’s popular Parker novels, has been played by various actors over time. The likes of Lee Marvin, Jim Brown, Robert Duvall, Mel Gibson, and Jason Statham come to mind but in this adaptation it’s Mark Wahlberg who gets to reprise the famous… or is it infamous character. And he is a decent fit for this Shane Black directorial which plays like a buddy comedy and is busy with action-comedy antics that will gladden your hearts.
Black frames the narrative as a non-stop incident prone, adrenaline-fueled chaotic run that works in heists, shootouts, daring-do, betrayal, murder, vehicle chases and spectacular crashes.
To start with, Parker(Wahlberg) and his crew, Philly Webb (Thomas Jane), Zen (Rosa Salazar), and others, pull off a successful heist and are on the verge of escape when a bystander chances his luck and makes a grab for the heist loot. After a chase that involves random shooting, cars and horses, Parker is able to get back the loot - only to be double crossed by his partner Zen who kills everyone in Parker’s team. Parker manages to escape by the skin of his teeth and is obviously looking for revenge when he visits Philly’s widow (Gretchen Mol) …but then he gets waylaid by the chance of a bigger booty. And that’s where Lakeith Stanfield makes his entry as Parker’s buddy Grofield, a thespian who commits crimes to fund his struggling theatre, and literally steals the show.
There are many more players involved as the heist gets bigger, difficult and more dangerous. The Outfit, a criminal organization run by Parker’s nemesis Lozini (Tony Shalhoub), Keegan-Michael Key and Claire Lovering as Ed and Brenda McKay, as Parker’s partners who get comic as they join in with disguises, Nat Wolff as Kincaid, one of Lozini’s henchman, Peta Wilson, Chukwudi Iwuji, and more, all get involved in staccato rush to pull off a heist that gets more and more daring as the movie plays on.
Wahlberg plays Parker with easy grace but it’s Stanfield who makes the movie interesting with his larger than life antics. Stanfield’s laid back persona helps him easily shift from action-comedy to absurdist humor and back again. Rosa Salazar as Zen does well to stick it when she pulls off the double cross but after that she has nothing much to make an impression with. The screenplay co-written by Black, Charles Mondry, and Anthony Bagarozzi focuses on setting up helter-skelter action beats and comedy so motivations are up in the air. The vengeance bit is left for last and it’s not satisfyingly done either.
Shane Black’s playful approach with funny banter and non-stop action sets up multiple set-pieces that keep the adrenaline rush going. The huge body count doesn’t register though. Alan Silvestri’s score keeps us buzzzing throughout. This is Black’s first directorial after 2018’s flop “The Predator,” so it’s been quite a long wait. “Play Dirty” finds Black playing safe with a familiar concoction that provides the fun without much distinction. Even so, Play Dirty manages to stay exciting and keep you grinning throughout.
Johnsont307@gmail.com
Johnson Thomas
Busy, Entertaining Action-Comedy
Film: Play Dirty
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Lakeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nat Wolff
Director: Shane Black
Rating: * * *
Runtime: 125 m
#AmazonPRIME #MXPlayer
Parker, the career thief from Donald E. Westlake’s popular Parker novels, has been played by various actors over time. The likes of Lee Marvin, Jim Brown, Robert Duvall, Mel Gibson, and Jason Statham come to mind but in this adaptation it’s Mark Wahlberg who gets to reprise the famous… or is it infamous character. And he is a decent fit for this Shane Black directorial which plays like a buddy comedy and is busy with action-comedy antics that will gladden your hearts.
Black frames the narrative as a non-stop incident prone, adrenaline-fueled chaotic run that works in heists, shootouts, daring-do, betrayal, murder, vehicle chases and spectacular crashes.
To start with, Parker(Wahlberg) and his crew, Philly Webb (Thomas Jane), Zen (Rosa Salazar), and others, pull off a successful heist and are on the verge of escape when a bystander chances his luck and makes a grab for the heist loot. After a chase that involves random shooting, cars and horses, Parker is able to get back the loot - only to be double crossed by his partner Zen who kills everyone in Parker’s team. Parker manages to escape by the skin of his teeth and is obviously looking for revenge when he visits Philly’s widow (Gretchen Mol) …but then he gets waylaid by the chance of a bigger booty. And that’s where Lakeith Stanfield makes his entry as Parker’s buddy Grofield, a thespian who commits crimes to fund his struggling theatre, and literally steals the show.
There are many more players involved as the heist gets bigger, difficult and more dangerous. The Outfit, a criminal organization run by Parker’s nemesis Lozini (Tony Shalhoub), Keegan-Michael Key and Claire Lovering as Ed and Brenda McKay, as Parker’s partners who get comic as they join in with disguises, Nat Wolff as Kincaid, one of Lozini’s henchman, Peta Wilson, Chukwudi Iwuji, and more, all get involved in staccato rush to pull off a heist that gets more and more daring as the movie plays on.
Wahlberg plays Parker with easy grace but it’s Stanfield who makes the movie interesting with his larger than life antics. Stanfield’s laid back persona helps him easily shift from action-comedy to absurdist humor and back again. Rosa Salazar as Zen does well to stick it when she pulls off the double cross but after that she has nothing much to make an impression with. The screenplay co-written by Black, Charles Mondry, and Anthony Bagarozzi focuses on setting up helter-skelter action beats and comedy so motivations are up in the air. The vengeance bit is left for last and it’s not satisfyingly done either.
Shane Black’s playful approach with funny banter and non-stop action sets up multiple set-pieces that keep the adrenaline rush going. The huge body count doesn’t register though. Alan Silvestri’s score keeps us buzzzing throughout. This is Black’s first directorial after 2018’s flop “The Predator,” so it’s been quite a long wait. “Play Dirty” finds Black playing safe with a familiar concoction that provides the fun without much distinction. Even so, Play Dirty manages to stay exciting and keep you grinning throughout.
Johnsont307@gmail.com
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