Parker - Movie Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Far better made than it has any right to be, this cheesy 70s-style thriller is given a thoroughly engaging kick by veteran filmmaker Hackford working outside his usual dramatic genre. It's predictable and far too long, but Hackford grounds everything in gritty reality, avoiding obnoxious effects work while indulging in entertaining innuendo and riotously nasty action sequences.

None of this is much of a stretch for the cast, and Statham's Parker is essentially the same character he always plays: a ruthlessly efficient, indestructible criminal with a conscience. After a gang of thugs (including Chiklis and Collins) betrays him following a fairgrounds heist, Parker miraculously recovers from his hideous injuries and heads to Florida to get revenge. He uses local estate agent Leslie (Lopez) to find the gang's lair, and she's instantly attracted to the way he fills out his designer suit. Living with her soap-addict mum (LuPone), Leslie is looking for a wealthy man to rescue her. And she's already too involved when she realises that Parker isn't who he seems to be.

There isn't much to the plot, which is packed with contrived twists and turns and never follows through the intriguing possibilities along the way. At least the film avoids the usual action cliches, as Hackford sharply orchestrates each fight sequence to make it both lucid and startlingly brutal. This earthy approach keeps things relatively believable, until Parker emerges with yet another serious injury that doesn't slow him down at all. Meanwhile, Hackford injects plenty of eyebrow-raising flirtation that keeps us smiling. Statham and Lopez may not be stretching themselves as actors, but they clearly have a lot of fun circling around each other like dogs on heat.

And the strong supporting cast elevates the side characters as well, with Nolte easily out-gruffing Statham as his mentor and the father of his girlfriend (Booth). Cannavale is solid in his few scenes as a local cop with the hots for Leslie. And LuPone is a wonderfully shameless scene-stealer. But of course this is Statham's show, and watching him throw himself earnestly into such a ridiculously implausible story is always entertaining.

Rich Cline

Facts and Figures

Year: 2013

Genre: Action/Adventure

Run time: 118 mins

In Theaters: Friday 25th January 2013

Box Office USA: $17.6M

Budget: $30M

Distributed by: FilmDistrict

Production compaines: SND

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 3.5 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 41%
Fresh: 42 Rotten: 61

IMDB: 6.2 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Taylor Hackford

Producer: Les Alexander, Steve Chasman, Taylor Hackford, Sidney Kimmel, Jonathan Mitchell

Screenwriter: John J. McLaughlin

Starring: Jason Statham as Parker, Jennifer Lopez as Leslie, Nick Nolte as Hurley, Michael Chiklis as Melander, Clifton Collins, Jr. as Ross, Sala Baker as Ernesto, Carlos Carrasco as Norte, Wendell Pierce as Carlson, Emma Booth as Claire, Daniel Bernhardt as Kroll, Patti LuPone as Ascension

Also starring: Bobby Cannavale, Clifton Collins Jr., Steve Chasman, Taylor Hackford, Sidney Kimmel