Parker (2013)

Taylor Hackford’s recent film Parker, based on a novel by Donald E. Westlake, has a bit of an odd place in a directorial canon that includes An Officer and a Gentleman and Ray. It tells the story of a successful robbery that leads to an attempted murder that leads to flippant acts of revenge. Jason Statham stars in the title role and Jennifer Lopez co-stars as a bubble-headed real estate saleswoman who has that long-time movie-female trait of constantly needing rescuing. It is an action drama that is sure to please whoever sees it, but which doesn’t have what it takes to be any kind of memorable.

My chief problem with the movie, which is otherwise well-executed in pace and style, is in the story and characters, which I guess is a problem stemming from the book. The two main characters are the only ones with any significant screen time and are the reason the movie will be a success or a failure, yet they are both ludicrous cinematic inventions. Parker is your typical action hero character, requiring little more acting than a stern face and the ability to be recognized amidst fast editing. Jason Statham does well in such roles, since he is likeable and has a naturally stern face. I just wonder if he is even capable of doing anything else, if the camera remained still and actually demanded a performance. Jennifer Lopez, on the other hand, also does well, but with a character that is so unflatteringly stupid I often felt bad for the actress. I understand Lopez is hardly a great cinematic icon or anything, but she is perfectly capable of holding her own with better material that I guess she just can’t get her hands on.

I know for a fact that many people will enjoy Parker, even though I really didn’t. It is, in many ways, a fun movie and one that is easy to watch. I, for one, like my movies to be more than merely watchable. Movies like this, shiny as they are on the surface, grow very tiresome as the bad writing constantly reminds us of their mediocrity around every corner. I amused myself by imagining the same movie without dialogue, with characters demoted to simple personality symbols and all of the competent action sequences still intact. For once, I actually think that would have made a better movie. It might have come across less goofy that way, too.

5/10