Play Dirty Review

 

Not how I wanted to start off the Halloween season but oh well.

Play Dirty is an action thriller flick based on Donald E. Westlake's Parker book series. Team Downey along with Big Red Films and Toberoff Productions worked on production, with Amazon MGM Studios distributing via Prime Video. Shane Black not only directed but he also wrote the screenplay alongside Charles Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi.

The story is, Parker along with his crew of other professional thieves sights on a big score. But by the end of it it goes wrong after a betrayal from their getaway driver results in many deaths. Parker has revenge on his mind, but soon he learns of a heist that could be the biggest score of them all. He agrees to work with the traitor but questionable trust is gonna be the least of Parker's problems.

Initial Reaction

Now I was looking forward to this because I'm a fan of Shane Black's work, well some of it, I don't find his films Iron Man 3 or The Predator to be bad just okay. But regardless of those two, Black has made a lot of good stuff. He killed with Lethal Weapon, and his other films like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Monster Squad are very underrated.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The one gray area comes from the story. It does seem like a simple revenge then turned into a heist movie. There were some plot points in there and sometimes most of them are forgettable. One example being the De La Paz heist will not only make Parker and others rich, but it'll also help overthrow a dictator. Then there's also some twists and turns that can often time be hard to follow. Then there's also Alan Silvestri's score. I'll remember quite a bit of his work. There's the score for Back to the Future, Predator, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Lilo & Stitch, etc. So the guy is talented, but for this one, yeah the score here is very forgettable. Then there's Mark Wahlberg's performance. Again, another talented guy who has been part of a lot of good stuff. Now his character [Parker] is supposed to be stoic, which Mark isn't bad at, but he's not gonna set the world on fire here. Again, he's not bad it's just a serviceable performance.

Pros

Let's start off with the action. There's plenty of fun to be had with the action. You got bloody shootouts, chaotic car chases, and even a train derailment. So when it comes to action there's plenty to enjoy. The last thing I'll give credit to is Shane Black's directing. He's action is great, he keeps the ensemble cast cohesive, editing is sharp, and his Christmas backdrop adds irony to the chaos much like how he wrote that same juxtaposition in Lethal Weapon. Because of that this movie feels way more polished than your typical streaming flick.

While this won't blow people's minds, there's still some enjoyment to have. Although if you planned on seeing this because of Shane Black or Mark Wahlberg, then I recommend you save this for later.

My final rating is, Okay.

That's all. Come back on Saturday, Oct 4th, for my review of Dwayne The Rock Johnson's newest movie, The Smashing Machine. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.