Before "Play Dirty," professional thief Parker had been played by six different actors in as many films. They've been so scattered over the decades that only fans of Donald E. Westlake's character (the protagonist of a series of 24 books written under the pseudonym Richard Stark) might have noticed. With so many actors in an unconnected film series spanning nearly 60 years, it would be difficult for viewers to notice, let alone get a clear picture of the character.
This means that the character, played this time by Mark Wahlberg, is starting to feel a little more familiar with this seventh film adaptation of the books. Co-writer and director Shane Black even gives Parker an animated opening credits sequence with dramatic music that's quite reminiscent of a James Bond film.
Director: Shane Black
Writers: Donald E. Westlake, Shane Black, Chuck Mondry
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar
Black seems to want us to feel that the Parker in his film is following that same path. We may not know the details of his various exploits and mischief, but like the famous British spy, we don't need to know to understand who the character is, what he does, and why he's existed in the world of literature and film for so long.
That approach essentially works for Parker in this film, which presents him as the most calculating and cold-blooded person in any situation. Wahlberg's portrayal of him is also slightly intriguing, because we don't get the sense that his Parker is necessarily the smartest guy in the room. However, he's the only one who sees a situation from a perspective that everyone else would consider too ridiculous or cruel to entertain, if they even acknowledge it.
Parker tells a bit of his story, explaining how he realized he wanted to be a thief when he was just 8 years old. He stole alcohol from a convenience store, but stealing itself wasn't the thrill. It was an elaborate plan to get an older boy to stop bullying him, which included destroying an innocent girl's bicycle and the bully's alcoholic father, which got him excited. Once we understand that the man is an amoral actor who simply does whatever it takes to get what he wants at any time, everything falls into place.
Black, therefore, is undoubtedly an excellent choice to oversee this new version of Parker, as he has a long history of working on films featuring flawed, troubled, openly misanthropic characters, or a combination of these and similar traits. The script, co-written with Charles Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi, makes no attempt to soften the rough edges of that character, which is quite refreshing, even when the plot of this story is so ridiculous and convoluted that Parker ends up playing a supporting role.
That plot revolves around a sunken treasure, discovered off the coast of an unspecified fictional country, where a dictator plans to use the lost riches to enrich himself immeasurably. All of this is finally revealed after an introductory heist that ends with Zen (Rosa Salazar) betraying the crew and killing everyone except Parker.
He vows revenge, but upon discovering that hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of artifacts are at stake, Parker doesn't hesitate to collaborate with Zen, his crew, and some of his own colleagues to steal the treasure before the dictator can orchestrate a robbery so that no one knows the riches are going to him. There's also the problem that, due to a previous robbery, Parker is persona non grata in New York City. A local criminal organization called The Outfit, led by Lozini (Tony Shalhoub), is tasked with stealing these treasures for the dictator and seeks revenge on Parker for breaking the deal.
Trying to see the resulting heist, which requires precise timing, various distractions/detours (some of which aren't even revealed until after they happen), and a level of chaos that would be completely unpredictable, is an impossible feat. Black and the other screenwriters seem to acknowledge this, at least.
The film's central sequence shows Parker and his crew—also comprised of actor Grofield (LaKeith Stanfield), married thieves Ed (Keegan-Michael Key) and Brenda (Claire Lovering), and brain-dead driver Stan (Chai Hansen)—watching as they try to pull off the already improbable while drunk or hungover from a night of premature partying. The sequence is an extravagantly orchestrated comedy of errors, and its various poignant moments and humor are almost enough to keep us from thinking too much about how many innocent people must be seriously injured or killed in the final mayhem.
Parker wouldn't care—and he doesn't, of course, because he's only thinking about the goal—but by analyzing Play Dirty's plot and practical mechanics, it should be clear that who Parker is in all this isn't that important.
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