Parker is a thief who has an unusual code. He doesn't steal from the poor and hurt innocent people. He is asked to join four other guys on a job. They pull it off flawlessly. They tell Parker that what they got can help them set up another job which will net them much more. But Parker doesn't want to join them and asks for his share. But they need it all so they try to kill him. They dispose of his body but someone finds him–he is still alive–and takes him to the hospital. After recovering he sets out to get back at the ones who tried to kill him, another one of his codes. Despite being told that they are working for a known mobster which he was not aware of, he still wants to go after them. He learns where they are and poses as a wealthy Texan looking to buy a house. So he hires a real estate agent, Leslie Rogers to show him around. He is actually trying to find out where they're holed up. And when he finds it, he sets out on his plan to get them. But when they learn he is alive, they contact the mobster to take care of him. So the mobster sends a killer to take care of him. And Leslie also finds herself intrigued with him so she follows him. A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew's latest heist. It doesn't take much for Jason Statham's agent to pitch a script to him " Okay Jase this film sees you play a bit of a tough geezer . You play an international criminal with a London accent and you've got to beat up and shoot a lot of bad criminals . Lots of action , some smart one liners and you get a babe , so what'd ya say ? " Statham doesn't do Shakespeare or Dickens , he does action but even so you might have expected him to diversify a bit before now . I mean he's surely paid off the mortgage and doesn't really need the money and PARKER is very run of the mill lacking any of he full blown bravado of CRANK and if anything resembles the classic thriller POINT BLANK <br/><br/>That's maybe the problem and that is PARKER resembles POINT BLANK a bit too much . It's called PARKER after Statham's character could easily be called WALKER after Lee Marvin's anti hero from the 1967 classic . It lacks something of the hard edge of POINT BLANK which in its own way was a ground breaking movie acknowledging New Hollywood was on its way and in when you've got Hollywood bringing out these type of thrillers for the last 45 years a film like PARKER seems a bit old hate . The truth is when you've seen a Statham movie you've seen most of them The quote at the top is the unique code of thief Parker (Jason Statham) and that code along with genuine concern and appreciation for those in need is what makes this character an interesting diversion from not only Staham's usual roles but also brings a sense humanity to the role of criminal that is embedded in the Parker character from the double named author Donald E. Westlake/Richard Stark has created in a series of books. The concept works and gets us through an otherwise rather repetitious, excessively long on action/short on plot movie. Taylor Hackford works with a fine cast but the characters from John J. McLaughlin's screenplay could have been cast by far less expensive actors and no one would have noticed the difference.<br/><br/>Parker is asked to join 4 other guys - Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Clifton Collins Jr. and Micah A. Hauptman – to pull of a theft during an Ohio State Fair. They pull off the job flawlessly and Parker wants to part ways with them. But because he refused to join them for another job (one involving stealing millions of dollars of diamonds to be auctioned for charity) they try to kill him. They dispose of his body but a sweet country couple finds him and he is still alive and takes him to the hospital. After recovering he sets out to get back at the ones who tried to kill him, another one of his codes. He learns where they are (West Palm Beach) and poses as a wealthy Texan looking to buy a house. He hires a Realtor, Leslie Rogers (Jennifer Lopez) to show him around (Lopez silly cranky mother is a bit part for Patti LuPone). He is actually trying to find out where they're holed up. And when he finds it, he sets out on his plan to get them. But when they learn he is alive, they contact the mobster to take care of him. So he sends a killer to take care of him.<br/><br/>One of the puzzling sidebars is Parker's relationship with his girlfriend Claire (Emma Both) whose father Hurley (Nick Nolte) seems somehow involved and approving of Parker's occupation. The presence of Claire prevents any love relationship with Lesley and that rather negates the need to have cast Jennifer in a fairly flimsy role. Adding Bobby Cannavale (a fine actor) in a toss away bit part also makes little sense. But the film is like that – motivational elements are often missing or contradicted making the plot a bit difficult to follow. Couple that with the fact that view of the actors enunciate clearly enough to understand what they are saying and those are some of the reasons the movie just doesn't make it big. For fans of Jason Statham action flicks this will satisfy. It just could have been tighter in budget with unknown actors in most of the parts and edited down a step to maintain the audience's attention span. <br/><br/>Grady Harp If you go in knowing what you're getting, you should come out relatively satisfied. Our hero vigorously beats up a parade of bad guys. Lots of bullets fly. There are a couple of decently plotted thefts. And to tell the truth, Statham's Southern accent is nearly worth the price of admission itself.
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