Play Dirty Review: Shane Black's Parker Adaptation Is a Muddy Mess

This post is free but it’s worth it to become a paid member of The Film Maven community! Paid subscribers are the backbone of The Film Maven and becoming one shows support for independent journalism, as well as female- and disabled-created content. It also allows me to write really fun articles and hire freelance writers. Becoming a paid subscriber gives you access to The Trade, my examination and exploration of topics in the entertainment industry, my Popcorn Disability articles on disabled representation in film, and chat with me on our exclusive Discord server. 

Don't want to commit to a subscription? Leave a tip to show you enjoy what you're reading.

Enjoy what you’re reading? Share it with friends. Help us get to 1,000 subscribers by the end of 2025 and I’ll do a full written and video review of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.

Read more about the history of disability in film by pre-ordering my upcoming book, Popcorn Disabilities: The Highs and Lows of Disabled Representation in the Movies. I not only expand on what you’re reading here, but examine the stereotypes, tropes, and the good, bad (and really ugly) of disabled movies. Preorder the book by clicking this link! Send me proof of your preorder and I’ll give you a paid subscription to The Film Maven for one year!

You'd think there'd be some more fanfare about a new Shane Black venture. Black exists in the same world as Paul Thomas Anderson, a creative who takes his time making movies and whose fervid fanbase usually shows up and shows out for him. If I had a nickel for every time I saw someone drop a Nice Guys (2016) meme or talk about it being the perfect movie I'd be as wealthy as the overbearing billionaire in this movie. And yet Black's return after a seven year hiatus is being met with a near-silent response. The lack of interest is two-pronged: One is that movies that premiere exclusively on Prime Video, and the other is that Amazon appears to know they have a bit of a lemon on their hands.

It's not that Play Dirty is a terrible movie, just a very dull one. One that never feels like a Shane Black-directed feature but, perhaps more egregiously, feels like a movie you'd find on Amazon Prime. The movie lacks the crackling dialogue, tempestuous buddy comedy, and sharp storytelling of Black's greatest hits like the aforementioned The Nice Guys or 2005's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. And with a perpetually crotchety, and miscast, Mark Wahlberg in the role, even the cast seems to misunderstand the fun and humor of being in a Shane Black film.

Based on the popular Parker novels, the story follows the titular criminal (Walhberg) after surviving a massacre that sees much of his crew taken out. Hellbent on revenge, Parker goes seeking Zen (Rosa Salazar), the woman who betrayed everyone. Through a series of events, Parker and Zen are forced to work together to pull off a heist that won't just make them wealthy, but potentially lead to the end of a brutal military regime for a Latin American country. Along the way, Parker is also hunted by members of The Outfit, whom he promised never to cross again.

There are certainly moments that scream "This is a Shane Black film," from the saxophone heavy score to the fact it's set on Black's favorite holiday: Christmas. But other than these cursory moments there's little of the guns and good humor that permeated his previous work. If anything there's guns....and that's about it. Play Dirty feels less like a '70s buddy actioner and more an '80s actioner, and we know there's a distinction between the two. Black wrote the script alongside Chuck Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi, both of whom worked on the equally lackluster remake of Road House for Prime Video, and that's Play Dirty's closest comparison.

After the botched heist Parker isn't just determined to kill Zen for the murder of his team or, more specifically, just the murder of his friend Philly (Thomas Jane). Parker promises Philly's pretty wife Grace (Gretchen Moll) that he'll kill Zen. Of course, Parker becomes interested in the heist Zen is pulling off and, convinced he's a better criminal than her, takes everything over. From there the script becomes unnecessarily convoluted and delineated into three parts, almost as if each screenwriter took a piece for themselves. There's the Parker and Zen plot, there's Parker's attempt to get together a crew for the big heist, and then there's the subplot with the Outfit and it's leader Lozini (Tony Shalhoub). The three don't necessarily dovetail so much as they smash into each other and work themselves out.

There's been a few attempts to adapt Donald E. Westlake's popular Parker novels, with Lee Marvin, Jason Statham and Mel Gibson taking on the role in past iterations. The character is one whose name inspires fear. Numerous characters in Play Dirty say, "It's Parker" with an implied shudder behind it. This is a man who doesn't play by the rules and kills indiscriminately, a more violent James Bond (weirdly enough, the opening credits are very Bond-esque). None of that fits Wahlberg, a replacement for a role originally written for Robert Downey, Jr. (who still seems an odd choice but better suited for Black's comedic crime stylings). Wahlberg plays the role like a grumpier take on his Italian Job character, spouting out things to do when he isn't shooting people for just annoying him.

Parker, as a character, is a cipher and Wahlberg gives no additional depth. Characters routinely call him a psycho but he's more like a disappointed dad. His face is etched in a perpetual scowl and while the character doesn't require warmth, there's also little charm, gravitas or momentum to keep us watching. Wahlberg just seems irritated that he's in the movie to begin with. (His reaction to a guy laughing at the name Glasscock is one of the few laugh moments Wahlberg is directly responsible for.) The real scene-stealer is LaKeith Stanfield as Parker's right hand, and failed actor, Grofield. Stanfield has a flair for the comedic banter and dialogue. He's charming and just makes you say, "Why isn't he leading the movie?"

The rest of the cast are chess pieces to move around for the heist, none possessing much depth or personality. Keegan Michael-Key and Claire Lovering play a married couple tasked with dressing up and taking over a garbage truck when they aren't sniping at each other. While Chai Hansen plays the perpetually dimwitted Stan. Nat Wolff and Shalhoub are serviceable as members of The Outfit but there's little to fear from them because the organization comes off as amorphous and ill-defined. Then there's Rosa Salazar as criminal mastermind (and full-time hottie as the movie likes to remind us), Zen.

Salazar is very much out of her depth despite the script trying hard to make her more than just the femme fatale. Her attempts to flirt with Parker are cringe but are meant to be as he's completely uninterested in her. But Salazar flounders to give a fleshed-out performance. One scene, of Parker shooting a guy, plays like she missed her reaction shot by a beat. Zen is supposed to be a bit of a freedom fighter, trying to liberate state-owned treasure and topple a dictatorial regime, but Salazer just seems like a young girl playing a revolutionary. This could explain why, for everything the movie lays out, the movie still feels the need to dole out punishment to her character in a way that feels very tone deaf in 2025.

Play Dirty won't be bringing Parker back to the big screen anytime soon, and it's a real failure from Black. There's little that's fun or engaging. Hopefully Black can reassess and come back stronger with another picture, one that's suited to his talents. If anything, I hope he works with LaKeith Stanfield again who is the only one who understands the assignment.

Grade: D

Play Dirty hits Prime Video tomorrow.

What's your go-to Shane Black movie? Leave a comment below.

Let’s work together! If you have editorial opportunities and would like to collaborate with me on an entertainment or disability project, drop me a message.