Parker - C

Rated R, 118 minutes

Slick yet predictable "Parker" could've been much better

The good news is that the uneven new action crime thriller "Parker" is serviceable thriller with an attractive cast. The bad news is that it's largely unoriginal and predictable, even though it's based on the Donald Westlake fictional crime novel "Flashfire."  Set amidst the unparalleled wealth and glamour of Palm Beach, Florida, action hero Jason Statham is Parker, a professional thief who is asked by his girlfriend's dad (Nick Nolte, gruff as ever) to lead a job and then his crew, including Melander (Michael Chiklis), double-crosses him and leaves him for dead. Parker returns to Palm Beach in disguise to locate and exact revenge on his former crew, with the help of real estate agent and potential victim herself (Jennifer Lopez). "Parker" has a handsome cast, a solid director in Taylor Hackford ("Ray," "An Officer and a Gentleman") but falls prey to the usual tactics of a film in this genre, of a good-hearted thief exacting revenge on this corrupt former crew. Statham can play this role in his sleep, and he near does, and while he and Lopez have a few warm moments together, the script is far too calculated (not to mention terribly sexist and misogynistic), particularly in the final act and it simply takes too long for such a supposedly smart thief as Parker to locate and hunt down the real bad guys. Hackford would've also been better off making a straight drama than trying to infuse moments of light-hearted humor into the film, they simply fall flat (and are sometimes offensive) and throw the film off course. "Parker" is a mediocre attempt to do something that Mel Gibson did back before he became too divisive for mainstream film audiences; this should please Statham and Lopez fans, who will likely show up regardless how mediocre the final product is.

Wes's Grade: C