Dinesh Kamath's review of Hollywood film 'Parker' that was published in Newsband

Parker is a 2013 American crime thriller film directed by Taylor Hackford. Starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez, the film is adapted from Flashfire, the 19th Parker novel, written by Donald Westlake under the name Richard Stark.

The movie has an interesting plot. Parker (Jason Statham) is a professional thief, who doesn't steal from the poor or hurt innocent people. The film opens with Parker being asked to take on a five man job with a crew he doesn't know. The job goes well but the leader of the crew double-crosses him. They shoot Parker and leave him for dead. However, he survives and follows them to Palm Beach, Florida to get revenge on them. Disguising himself, he enlists the help of real estate agent Leslie Rogers (Jennifer Lopez), one of their targeted victims, to find out about the plan his former crew has made.

The movie has Jason Statham as Parker, Jennifer Lopez as Leslie Rogers, Michael Chiklis as Melander, Wendell Pierce as Carlson, Clifton Collins Jr. as Ross, Bobby Cannavale as Jake Fernandez, Patti LuPone as Ascension, Carlos Carrasco as Norte, Micah A. Hauptman as August Hardwicke, Emma Booth as Claire, Nick Nolte as Hurley and Daniel Bernhardt as Kroll.

Parker, although an anti-hero, has a likable quality. Prior to this film, 38-year old Parker had first appeared decades earlier in the 1962 novel The Hunter, written by Donald E. Westlake, which spawned into a book series that including over twenty other novels. He had also been depicted in several films including Point Blank (1967) and Payback (1999), among others.

Hackford directs the film alongside Steven Chasman, Alexander, Sidney Kimmel and Jonathan Mitchell. Hackford was excited to make Parker. He didn’t want to get stuck in a genre. What he liked the most about this piece of material is that he could take a genre piece like this and turn it into a great movie. What led him to Parker is the fact that he was a fan of Donald Westlake whom he considers as a fabulous writer - very unique in the area of crime because of his Parker series. Hackford was attracted to Parker because he was a "strange character" and "sociopath" who, at the same time, isn't a sociopath, describing him as "compelling".

Parker, for your information, is a man who lives by a certain moral code - so there’s a likeable quality to this anti-hero. He’s involved in criminal activities but he perceives all business to be in some way crooked. He never steals from people he feels can’t afford it and he doesn’t hurt people that don’t deserve it.

Lopez is the female lead, a character named Leslie, who gets involved with Parker as he executes a heist. Leslie is a "savvy insider" who's short on cash, but big on looks, smarts and ambition. Initially, she only partners with Parker for her own financial gain, but eventually becomes romantically involved with Parker. The couple's relationship grows stronger and Leslie falls for Parker as the storyline develops.

Parker was also filmed in Palm Beach, Florida, where Lopez and Statham were spotted that September. The film has gorgeous shots of Palm Beach County and incredible aerials. And the action scenes make Boca Raton look great. Palm Beach is a fascinating area. You’ve got this incredibly rich, exclusive enclave and right across the bridge you’ve got real life. And Hackford was depicting both. During the shooting, the locals were also shaken up by helicopters, firetrucks and marine patrol boats, bringing big-time filmmaking to an area better known for leisure-time activities.

Statham, who is a former diver for the British Olympic Team, performed all of Parker's stunts in the film. In one scene, Statham jumped out of the window of a fast-moving car for his character to escape being shocked; this stunt was considered "really dangerous and Hackford was nervous when he went out of that window five or six times before the scene was finished. In another scene, Statham had to hang off a building's balcony. The actor took a "real beating" from these scenes. He credited this to wearing a wire, which got in the way of filming and made things feel "restricted", because they ripped up his arms. At last, the filming for Parker concluded in Miami.

Parker has received good reviews from film critics. The Miami Herald's Connie Ogle said while the film was "a stretch" and "without its absurdities", Statham "turns out to be a good choice to play the taciturn thief". Lopez's performance was praised for its comedic relief. Brian Lowry for Variety felt that Hackford "fashioned the 50-year-old franchise into a neat-fitting outfit for Jason Statham", while calling the film "crisp and efficient", praising it for showing off Lopez to "good effect". Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter said the film's "biggest surprise" is Lopez's performance, in which she "downplays her glamorous image to give a refreshingly low-key portrayal of a put-upon, financially strapped working woman who manages to be useful to Parker when he least expects it." Additionally, Farber said its Palm Beach locations "enhance the movie’s persuasive atmosphere" and praised Statham as making a "convincingly bruised protagonist" A.O. Scott of The New York Times gave Parker a positive review, enjoying Lopez "exercising her talent for damsel-in-distress silliness" and said, "And if Parker is, in the end, business as usual, it is also a pretty good deal." Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times positively reviewed the film, calling it a "faithful adaption" of Flashfire. Sharkey praised Statham's performance as Parker, and also called Lopez "inherently likable" on screen. Berardinelli gave Parker a generally positive review, summarizing its action scenes as "crisply directed, brutal, and invigorating."

Thus Parker is a good film. Do watch it.