The blunt comedy “Play Dirty,” Shane Black’s adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s Parker crime novels, is a faint shadow of the director’s best work.
It stars Mark Wahlberg as Parker, the taciturn thief whose team is eradicated by a fellow robber named Zen (Rosa Salazar), following a caper whose careening car chase into a horse track gives a taste of the film’s hollow spectacle. When a vengeful Parker tracks down Zen, he learns she’s planning to steal a billion dollars’ worth of artifacts and jewels from a recently rediscovered 15th-century ship to feed those starving an unnamed Latin American country.
Putting aside their animosity, Parker and Zen assemble a gang in New York that includes a theatrical Groefield (LaKeith Stanfield) to devise a plan that, on top of the heist, will avoid the wrath of The Outfit, a crime syndicate led by Lozini (Tony Shalhoub), that is illegally selling the artifacts on behalf of the crooked president (Alejandro Edda).
Though Black tries to recapture the gritty violence with human stakes of his 2005 action-comedy “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and the 1996 action-thriller “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” “Play Dirty” is a misanthropic work. Which isn’t inherently a deal breaker, but a stiff Wahlberg lacks the moxie to make the brutal barrage of death amusing or worthwhile. Combined with the soupy 1970s inflicted jazz score and Parker’s privilege in the face of impoverished Latinos, “Play Dirty” requires a cold shower.
Play Dirty
Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, some sexual content and nudity. Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes. Watch on Amazon Prime Video.
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