Parker
Starring: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Clifton Collins Jr
Director: Taylor Hackford
Rating: 2.5/5
Jason Statham is back on the big screen this week for another action role as he teams up with Jennifer Lopez for the very first time.
The movie is based on the novel by Donald E. Westlake and sees Taylor Hackford back in the director’s chair.
Parker (Statham), is a hardened professional criminal who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, living by his own code of ethics - don’t steal from people who can’t afford it and don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it.
But when he’s double-crossed by his crew and left for dead, it’s time for payback.
There are some great elements and moments in Parker but is by no means as exciting and action packed as you would expect from this kind of movie.
It starts off well and ends well but the middle of the film, at times, really does struggle to hold your attention and the pace really is all over the place.
But this is another good performance from Statham in the title role and he really does have quite a fearsome presence in jut about every scene that he is in.
This is a role that shows Statham as more than just a man that does his own stunts and fight scenes - although he in involved in a couple of cracking set pieces.
His partnership with Jennifer Lopez works well as the very mismatched partners in crime - it would have been nice to see them share even more screen time than they actually do.
There is a real chemistry between the pair that is both sexy and funny and you never quite know which way they partnership is going to go.
There are some great actors in this film but you do feel that many of them are desperately underused - Nick Nolte and Michael Chiklis being two great examples.
Chiklis is supposed to be the villain of the piece but you never feel that there is any real threat or danger from this character and therefore you never that things may not work out well for Parker.
And quite why an actor of Nolte’s quality has been cast in this almost nonexistent role is anyone’s guest - it really is a waste of a fine acting talent.
Parker is not a terrible movie but it is not a great one either; you sort of get the feeling that it was trying to be more than just an action film and by doing that it lost it’s way.
There are some sharp directing from Hackford in parts - the fight in the hotel being one of the moments that does stand out - but Parker suffers from some real pacing problems and that is one of the major undoing’s.
Parker is a movie that is very watchable but it is a film that you would be unlikely to go to a second time.
Parker is out now
Tagged in Jennifer Lopez Jason Statham Taylor Hackford