Director Shane Black has had an impressive career with writing iconic action films like Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout as well as directing films Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys. Now he is teaming up with Mark Wahlberg for his latest directorial effort Play dirty co-starring LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nat Wolff with Thomas Jane and Tony Shalhoub. Could this film bring a heist worthy of pulling off or will it fail to cash in?

 

Play Dirty follows Parker, an expert thief who rolls out the biggest heist of his life with Grofield and Zen and a skilled crew that stumble onto a score that pits them against the New York mob in this gritty, clever caper.

 

The character Parker is based on the book series by writer Donald E. Westlake under the pen name Richard Stark has not only been a stable in the book series, but has made his way onto numerous films. Previous versions of Parker have been portrayed by Lee Marvin, Mel Gibson, Jason Statham and numerous others with Wahlberg taking on the iconic character this time around. With Shane Black at the helm and this cast I expected the film to deliver some action fun, and it did not disappoint.

 

As someone that has never read any of the books I cannot compare the portrayals, but each actor has brought their own twist to it. My personal favorite is Gibson in Payback, but this latest entry into the Parker lore delivers with the action, heist and fun. I think had it brought a little more humor to the serious nature of the narrative it might have been stronger, but it still works.

 

The story brings all the proper tropes for a good heist film with big jobs, twists and turns, betrayals and plenty of action. As I mentioned, Wahlberg