Statham gives it a strong start, but Parker sputters to the end

Action hero Jason Statham is the perfect guy to play Parker, a criminal who abides by certain standards (he always keeps his word and doesn’t steal from the poor). But Parker, which is based on the 2000 Donald Westlake novel Flashfire, sputters to the end after a strong start.

As the film commences, the guys in Parker’s crew double-cross him after stealing a million bucks from the safes at a State Fair. They end up shooting him and leaving him for dead on a country road. A farmer family picks him up and takes him to the hospital where he starts to recover. But, afraid he’ll get nabbed by the cops, he sneaks out of the hospital and tracks his former crew to West Palm Beach.

His father-in-law (Nick Nolte) originally introduced Parker to the guys who became his crew and he knows how tough and well-connected to the mob they are. He tells Parker he’s best to let them be. But because he’s guided by a black-and-white behavioral code, Parker can’t just let it go. Up this point, the film is an intriguing action flick. We’re not quite sure how Parker is going to get his revenge and the rapid changes in scenery keep the movie moving at a brisk pace.

Once in West Palm Beach, Parker meets Leslie Rogers (Jennifer Lopez), a real estate agent who is so behind on her bills, she’s desperate to make a commission. She takes Parker out to see a variety of waterfront mansions but quickly picks up on the fact that he’s not whom he claims to be. He eventually tells her a bit about what he’s up to and promises to give her a cut of the action if she helps him out. She agrees, though she’s such a novice, she often interferes more than she helps. Though there’s a bit of sexual tension, Parker is happily married to Claire (Emma Booth) and makes that clear to Leslie. So in the end, Lopez’s character, though designed to provide some comic relief, is essentially extraneous. Director Taylor Hackford (Ray, Proof of Life) has admitted this is his first foray into what could be considered contemporary film noir, and it’s a rather rough debut in that respect.