|
Parker
| Released |
8 March 2013 |
| Director |
Taylor Hackford |
Starring
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Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Nick Nolte, Clifton Collins Jr, Bobby Cannavale |
| Writer(s) |
John J. McLaughlin |
Producer(s)
|
Les Alexander, Steve Chasman, Taylor Hackford, Sidney Kimmel, Jonathan Mitchell |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
118 minutes |
| Genre |
Action, crime, thriller |
| Rating |
16 |
|
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Payback time.
When career criminal Parker (Jason Statham) is double crossed by his former gang (led by The Shield’s Michael Chiklis) and left for dead, he sets out for revenge.
Fast paced actioner Parker may look like just another dumb, formulaic action flick, but it is actually an adaptation of a novel by prolific crime author Donald Westlake. And while this is the first film to directly adapt the character of Parker for the screen, Westlake’s Parker novels have a long history with Hollywood. It was a Parker novel which formed the basis for films such as Point Blank, Payback and many more staples of the action genre.
Despite the name, it probably isn’t the accurate Parker adaptation that fans were expecting. Statham is not a whole lot closer to Parker than Lee Marvin or Mel Gibson were – especially given the fact that Statham is utterly incapable of doing an American accent. When he attempts to do so about halfway through the film, it is done for comic relief. The film never quite explains why an English man is playing an American role, instead everyone just pretty much ignores it, much as Arnie’s Austrian accent is ignored in literally every film he has ever made.
Instead of a solid accurate adaptation, Parker is actually something else entirely. It is a Jason Statham movie, and while there is no shortage of those already, Parker is a pretty good one. It ticks practically every action film box (except maybe for a car chase, there are none of those). There are shootouts, double crosses galore, fistfights in hotel bathrooms and macho one liners. The works. It is Statham doing what Statham does best, and you probably already know whether that appeals to you or not.
Surprisingly, the one thing that does shine through the action is Jennifer Lopez’s performance. When she first appears about forty minutes into the movie, the breakneck action pace slow right down. At first this seems like it is derailing the whole action formula a bit, but Parker starts to display its literary merit when J-Lo turns out to be playing a deep, well rounded character. It is equally refreshing to see a romantic interest who isn’t half the age of the leading man. Lopez’s mid-forties divorcee felt far more appropriate than a character in her twenties (unfortunately this is undermined by the age of Parker’s actual girlfriend – but then again this is a nice source of tension, so I guess it gets a pass).
The casting of Lopez is impressive, and she adds a lot of heart to what could easily have just been another flat romantic interest whose only purpose is to be rescued by the hero. Equally well cast is Chikils, who makes a welcome return to the one (and probably only) role he was born to play.
The result is a nicely layered thriller which meshes plenty of action with nicely round characters and a nice layer of humour running through everything, which keeps the film from becoming too dark. It may not strictly be what Westlake fans were looking for, but it’ll please Statham fans no end.
- Bernard O'Rourke |
