Parker (2013)

Such a frustrating disappointment

People are voting emotionally.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The storyline in "Parker" was adequate, but it was a bit too ordinary and mundane, and something that has been done too many times, and that is what ultimately made the movie mediocre.The story is about a heist gone awry and the mind behind it is betrayed by his fellow criminals. Leaving Parker behind for dead, the gang moves on to their next big heist. But Parker is not dead, and no one double-crosses Parker and walks away.The action sequences were good, but they couldn't pull up the mediocre storyline. And as such, this wasn't one of Jason Statham's better movies.As for the acting, well it was good. And Michael Chiklis delivered a good performance alongside Jason Statham. I can't claim to find Jennifer Lopez to be a talented actress, so casting her for this movie was beyond my comprehension. There are far better female talents who could have delivered so much more to the movie by having a knack for acting."Parker" is a good enough action movie, just weighed down by a mediocre plot and storyline. And as far a Statham movie goes, then it was something he could do with his eyes closed.

I have a mixed opinion about the leading British star best known for the Transporter films, he does the same thing almost every film, but I do quite often like them, and I was sure this one would be the same thing, directed by Taylor Hackford (An Officer and a Gentleman, The Devil's Advocate, Ray). Basically Parker (Jason Statham) is a professional thief with a conscience and a code, he will not steal from the poor and hurt innocent people, his latest job is joining a crew of four men he doesn't know: Melander (The Shield's Michael Chiklis), Carlson (The Wire's Wendell Pierce), Ross (Crank: High Voltage's Clifton Collins Jr.), and Hardwicke (Micah Hauptman) in taking the gate money from the Ohio State Fair. They are successful, but Parker is disgusted when an innocent man is killed during, he sees it as unprofessional standards, he refuses to do another robbery with them and demands his cut, the crew refuse and decide to shoot Parker and leave him for dead. The crew are unaware that Parker is found by people passing, in hospital he has survived his beating, being shot, thrown from a moving car, and being shot again, after recovering he makes his way out of the hospital and vows to get back at the ones who tried to kill him, another one of his codes. Parker poses as a wealthy Texan businessman looking for a new high-price property, he hires real estate agent Leslie Rodgers (Jennifer Lopez) to show him around Palm Beach, Florida, in fact he is searching for the crew from a lead from his mentor Hurley (Nick Nolte) to a new heist they plan. Parker finds where the crew are holding up and plans his plot to get them, but they learn he is alive and contact the mob they are now working for, they send hit-man Kroll (Daniel Bernhardt) to take care of him, and Parker's girlfriend Claire (Emma Booth) gets herself caught in the middle as well. Leslie also finds out through researching that Parker was not who he said he was, she is intrigued by him and follows him, she is keen to help him in any way he can, not realising Parker plans to kill the men who betrayed him. The crew pull off another big robbery of valued jewellery, but Leslie and Parker find their hideout and the thief is able to kill the four men, he promises to help Leslie and her family get a better life, and in the end, months later she is shocked to have a delivery of thousands of dollars from Parker. Also starring Patti LuPone as Ascension, Leslie's mother and Ant- Man's Bobby Cannavale as Jake Fernandez. Statham does his usual hard man seeking vengeance well, Lopez certainly has the looks and curves, and Chiklis does well as the meanest of the villains, there is nothing new here, a man wants revenge on those who wronged him and kills them, but there are still some great bone-crunching fight and action sequences, it is a likable enough crime thriller. Worth watching!

Jason Statham is type cast for a good reason. He has a limited acting range and unfortunately he tries to stretch it a little too far in this film. I was looking forward to a typical Statham film, and this is not really that bad, but it's messed up some by Statham attempting to reach depths of character that are beyond him. "A man's got to know his limitations," and Statham usually does, but not quite here. Jennifer Lopez is another big letdown. She couldn't act her way out of a wet paper bag. Also, jeez, when she whines about the obnoxious behavior of the spoiled mega-rich it's just too much, given that she herself in real life is very well known for being utterly insufferable and bizarrely demanding. (These complaints voiced from her character make it hard to sustain any suspension of disbelief. Maybe her unconvincing down-to-earth act was supposed to be ironic or meta or something?) On the positive side, Statham is his usual indestructible self and the plot is workable, although there are a lot of holes if one stops to really think about it. Even allowing for all of my grouses, there is probably enough "Statham action" to satisfy all but his most die- hard fans, so this effort squeaks by with a passing grade. Perversely, if this film had tried to be less, it could have been so much more.

This was pretty good, especially if you're a Jason Statham fan and just sit back and enjoy the ride. It was actually better than I was expecting in some respects since I wasn't to keen on the whole Jennifer Lopez aspect going in but she plays a desperate, past her prime sort of character and thankfully not a love interest, so that worked for me.Not as many flashy fight scenes from Statham here but still enough good ones with unique aspects (knife through hand, chair to trachea, dive out car window) to keep me more than interested. He gets beat up real bad a couple of times here with a serious amount of bloodshed.I also had to laugh at his attempt at being a Texan, yeah the accent was terrible but I think it was meant to be.Statham is a professional thief here, an anti-hero with a unique code of ethics who is double-crossed and left for dead by his former partners, then spends the remainder of the movie seeking revenge (and to hijack the crew's latest heist) while getting help from a real estate agent (Jennifer Lopez).This was kind of a long movie, going to multiple directions and several locations, and with a plot that wasn't as predictable as most action/ revenge thrillers tend to be, so I enjoyed those aspects. Nick Nolte plays a small role as Parkers girlfriend's dad, a career criminal, and the band of bad guys was atypical but still decent and entertaining for antagonists. I liked the opening heist scene at the fair, where Parker is a priest (he dons several different disguises in this) which was amusing. 3/22/15