Parker is based on a Richard Stark (aka, Donald Westlake) novel called Flashfire. Parker is a professional thief and when a caper goes wrong, Parker goes after the guys who double-crossed him. Jason Statham plays Parker, Jennifer Lopez is a real estate agent, and Nick Nolte basically provides the information Parker needs to extract his revenge. I’m a fan of Jennifer Lopez since her terrific performance in Out of Sight. But, sadly, J-Lo is completely wasted here. Every scene she’s in could have cut without affecting the main action of the movie. If you’re looking for an above average action-movie, Parker fits the bill. Art Scott sent me a link to a great article on Donald Westlake. You can read the article here. GRADE: B+
J-Lo can definitely act, as she proved in OUT OF SIGHT, but she wastes her talents on crappy roles and crappy movies. I’ll wait for this to come on DVD.
J-Lo showed her talent in OUT OF SIGHT, Jeff. Then, her agent or someone advised her to take romantic comedy roles. Big mistake!
Lopez-Scientologist-boycott.
Bob, is J-Lo a Scientologist, too? Say it ain’t so!
The reviews of this are all over the place. I know I should see it to review it for CRIMESPREE but I think I will see 56 UP today instead. Saw QUARTET yesterday. What is it about January and movies about old people.
We’re on the bubble with QUARTET, Patti. Like PARKER, plenty of mixed reviews.
Like Jeff, I’ll probably wait until the DVD comes out. I’ve got my Parker, and this isn’t it. (Even the later novels don’t seem like Parker to me.) I am grateful to you and Art Scott for the link. A very good and interesting article.
All the credit goes to Art Scott, Drongo. He’s the guy who sent me the link to that fine Westlake article.