Parker

Parker (Jason Statham) is a thief with codes to live by. He is left for dead by his cohorts in crime when he refuses to join them for another heist. He vows to go after them and get what is his.

Seems that some big stars want to hitch their wagon to a profitable venture such as any Jason Statham movie. Here we have Jennifer Lopez doing that and when I first saw her name associated with this I knew 2-things: She would get a lot of screen time and many, many lines too. Okay, 3-three things: this won't be as good as other Jason Statham movies. I was in cringeville. And, then I watched the movie and was wrong, wrong, wrong. She did good. Who knew?

However, there was a difference with this movie. Most of the time Mr Statham's character goes about his business cutting down the bad guys without any real complication, but in here he meets his match with some bad guys who kind of beat the hell out of him. He still wins, but it's not easy. Some of the fight scenes were too real for me and I had to check myself into the local ER to make sure all was okay. I am fine. Thanks for asking.

Add to the beatings, we have Leslie (Jennifer Lopez) getting in the way of Parker's plan to take out the bad guys. Okay, we knew something like this would happen and we cringed for a bit, but we were pleasantly surprised that she did good. Who knew?

All in all a good action thriller as we would expect from any Jason Statham movie even with a star who hitched her wagon to a profitable venture…..but did good. Who knew? Nick Nolte and Michael Chiklis also star.

Will we see other big stars hitch their wagon to other successful ventures: Matt Damon, Bruce Willis, Arnold (hey, is he back?), Sylvester? Time will tell. We can only hope the scripts will be as good as this one was. Kudos. (7/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: Yes, briefly, 2-times.. Language: Yes, not much.

Of course, similar events - revenge after double-crossing - have been depicted several times and will definitely be depicted in the future as well - but it is the direction and choice of actors that counts. As for Parker, everything is at least okay with those: the director Taylor Hackford is an accredited creator and names like Jason Statham, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Lopez are certain signs of quality and non-boredom. They are pleasant to follow even in less interesting and less veracious scenes.

Well, the script is probably the weakest part of the movie: too much predictability, excessive sections (e.g. Parker-Claire, prolonging the duration to almost 2 hour 15 minutes) and trivial ending (unlike in movies by Guy Ritchie, for example).

Nevertheless, Parker is still an above-average A-movie, qualifying well for a sociable entertainment.

Many people say the same things about Jason Statham, He's a typecast or he doesn't do anything different. Which is partly true, but he is good as an action star and in my opinion hes a better actor than what some say. I don't think he does get enough credit seeing how he got into movies almost by accident.

Anyways Parker has a good revenge/crime story its about a professional thief who lives by a simple code, don't steal from people who can't afford it and don't hurt people who don't deserve it. After a successful heist our man is left for dead by his partners. The movie has good action throughout. lots of hand to hand combat, and violent ones at that. It also has a better than usual cast and director for a statham action movie (Good villains + hot leading lady).

Overall, I got what I was expecting for $10 as a fan of Jason Statham and would recommend it for a good popcorn flick.

7/10

I've read some of Richard Stark (a.k.a. Donald Westlake) 'Parker' books and this movie pretty much captures the essence of the character. This is not Shakespeare folks. The morality is pretty black and white in these books and Taylor Hackford and the screenwriter captures what this character is about very well. The only thing I found awkward in this movie were the flashbacks in the first third -- but that's a screenplay structure issue, not directing issue. Acting-wise, thought everyone did very well with their roles. No, there's not a lot of depth to anyone, except for perhaps Jennifer Lopez's character who makes it clear she's stuck in a dead-end life post-divorce and needs an out. All in all, a very good, entertaining crime thriller. I won't remember this years from now, but it entertained me and kept my attention throughout. And aside from all this, Stratham makes for one good badass! If you like this, definitely check out "The Bank Job" that he starred in: he really shows his acting chops in that one.

While I wasn't aware there was already a "Parker" character (in books that is), I was more drawn to the movie because of the director. Taylor Hackford has done some extraordinary work. Be it "Officer and Gentleman", "Devil's Advocate" or my personal favorite "Blood in Blood out". But you can't compare this to any of those movies of course. I was however surprised seeing him working with Jason Statham. A man more known for his action filled roles.

And while this might not be one of the better works of Hackford, it still is good action cinema. Michael Chiklis has been better though, although he doesn't get much to play with here. Jennifer Lopez gets to play in a good movie too for once (after U-Turn and Out of Sight), but don't expect to see too much of her here. This is the Statham show and that is pretty obvious.