Play Dirty: A Disappointing Crime Comedy (Early Review)

Acclaimed writer-director Shane Black returns with his latest film Play Dirty, his first film in over 7 years, following the critical and commercial disappointment, The Predator. Based on the massively popular book series by Donald E. Westlake, the film sees Mark Wahlberg step into the lead role of Parker, a role previously helmed by Jason Statham and Mel Gibson. The story follows the aftermath of a heist that left Parker both shot and betrayed. Once recovered, he is given another shot at a major heist, one where he must outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the worlds richest man. While much better than other recent streaming action fare, coming from the likes of Shane Black, it is still a little underwhelming despite being a significant improvement over his last film.

Play Dirty has a lot of Black’s signature trademarks that fans of his will no doubt eat up, from its clever sense of humour, to its style, tone, writing, and Christmas time setting that is almost a requirement at this point in any of his films. Fast paced and fairly entertaining from start to finish, the film has some solid action throughout. Maintaining a good sense of humour, though derivative, it also takes no prisoners. Meanwhile, the film features a dynamite cast, all of whom are having a blast which could be felt on screen. That being said, the clear standout is Stanfield who oozes charisma and coolness from the second he walks on screen as Grofield, getting a lot of the film’s best moments and having strong chemistry with Wahlberg. However, Wahlberg is also who holds the film back. Appearing in a fair share of subpar films, he’s never been an issue in them but here, Wahlberg, while not bad, is miscast as Parker. Ultimately, he is at his best when playing off Stanfield in typical Shane Black fashion. Sadly, the film fails to tap into their dynamic nearly enough. as Wahlberg plays Parker like the vast majority of his action hero roles, making his latest effort hard to distinguish from all the others.

As mentioned, coming from Black, the film is disappointing considering how formulaic and predictable it is. Bringing absolutely nothing new to the table in terms of the action or heist genres, rather taking pieces from the best of both genres. Similarly, the film did not need to be over 2-hours long, and its pacing can sometimes hit a bit of a lull in the middle act. On the other hand, the marketing for the film may lead many to believe that Play Dirty is a buddy film but this is only the case at times, otherwise, it is just the Mark Wahlberg show, which gets old fast as he is clearly not challenging himself.

At the end of the day, Play Dirty may not be a bad film and will definitely find an audience whether it be action/heist junkies or massive fans of Shane Black, despite not being the return to form that many had hoped this would be. Above all else, it is a fine watch, though one lacking much in the way of staying power long after the credits roll. Still, there is definitely a lot to appreciate here, regardless if much of it has been done better in countless other films.

still courtesy of Prime Video

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/