Play Dirty
When it comes to “Play Dirty” it’s probably best to just play dumb and enjoy the ride.
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I’ve always been a Shane Black guy. Movies like “Lethal Weapon,” “The Last Boy Scout” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight” – all penned by Black – were pretty formative for me. When he made the jump to directing with “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” I was even more impressed. Black’s latest “Play Dirty” (now streaming on Prime Video) has all the hallmarks of his work – it’s crime fiction, takes place during Christmas and has a blatant disregard for human life. Qualitatively it hews closer to his lesser works such as “Iron Man 3” or “The Predator” as opposed to the heights of “The Nice Guys,” but it’s still a fun flick.
Mark Wahlberg stars as author Donald E. Westlake’s famed antihero Parker, a thief with a moral code. After his last job goes sideways, Parker falls into another heist with fellow survivor Zen (Rosa Salazar). Their goal is to pilfer sunken treasure being brokered between bastard billionaire Phineas Paul (Chukwudi Iwuji of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”), the dictatorial De La Paz (Alejandro Edda) and a mobster named Lozini (Tony Shalhoub), who’s got an axe to grind with Parker.
Aiding Parker and Zen in their pursuit are failed theater director Grofield (a weirdly fun LaKeith Stanfield), married couple Ed (Keegan-Michael Key) and Brenda Mackey (Claire Lovering) and space cadet getaway driver Stan Devers (Chai Hansen).
“Play Dirty” is hardly the first Westlake (aka Richard Stark) work adapted to film. Along the way we’ve had Jean-Luc Godard’s “Made in U.S.A,” John Boorman’s “Point Blank” (Christopher Lloyd’s retrospective piece on that picture from earlier this week can be found here), Gordon Flemyng’s “The Split,” Peter Yates’ “The Hot Rock,” John Flynn’s “The Outfit,” Brian Helgeland’s “Payback” and Taylor Hackford’s “Parker.”
Black’s concoction (co-written by his “The Nice Guys” co-writer Anthony Bagarozzi and Bagarozzi’s “Road House” remake co-writer Charles Mondry) is far frothier than most of these. It’s fun to see a game Wahlberg reunite with Shalhoub (they appeared together in Michael Bay’s “Pain & Gain”) and his “Boogie Nights” co-star Thomas Jane (he plays Parker’s pal Philly Webb). Further reunions abound as both Key and Jane appeared in Black’s “The Predator.”
Tonally “Play Dirty” is sort of all over the place. It also has some of the wonkiest special effects I’ve seen in a hot minute – between this and “The Predator” it seems as though CGI and Black aren’t the best of bedfellows.
When it comes to “Play Dirty” it’s probably best to just play dumb and enjoy the ride. It isn’t Black’s best work, but I’m glad he’s back to making movies after a seven-year hiatus.