Parker

ACTION / ADVENTURE. SUSPENSE / THRILLER

Hard Man To Kill

★ ★ ★ out of 5 | Movie - DVD - Rental

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Rated: R Language throughout, brief sexual content, brief nudity, and strong violence.
Release Date: January 25, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes

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Director: Taylor Hackford
Writers: John J. McLaughlin, from the novel "Flashfire" by Donald E. Westlake written as Richard Stark
Cast: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Clifton Collins Jr., Bobby Cannavale, Patti LuPone, Carlos Carrasco, Micah A. Hauptman, Emma Booth, Nick Nolte, Daniel Bernhardt

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SYNOPSIS: 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.

REVIEW: Ray and Proof of Life short director Taylor Hackford takes on the honorable thief Parker with the help from Black Swan and Hitchcock screenwriter John J. McLaughlin from the novel "Flashfire" by Donald E. Westlake writing under his pseudonym Richard Stark.

Parker (Jason Statham, Safe) and four others set a plan in motion to rob the ticket sales for the Ohio state fair. Although the plan is carried out and the team gets away with the loot, Parker is forced to choose whether to invest his fifth of the take to a larger scheme with the others or face execution. When he tries to just take his cut, Melander (Michael Chiklis,>High School) and the others draw down on Parker, shooting him and leaving him for dead. But Parker doesn't die... And vows to hunt down the men who did not live up to their end of the contract. Hunting the men across the region from Ohio to Louisiana to Florida, Parker poses as a Texas oilman and enlists the help of realtor Leslie Rodgers (Jennifer Lopez,What to Expect When You're Expecting) to ferret out where Melander and the others are hiding out in order to carry out their next score. All Parker wants is to balance the books concerning the agreement of the contract, and will stop at nothing to rights those wrongs.

Jason Statham is, in my opinion, an underrated action star. He has strung together a number of low cost franchise hits like Crank and The Transporter, as well as ensemble hits like The Italian Job and The Bank Job. Statham's rugged good looks and chiseled body are made better by his ability to carry out some great action sequences. And true to his history Statham does deliver on that point. A certain scene with a botched up "room service" to Parker's hotel room is probably the best action moment of the film. Parker and Melander's stand off is probably the second.

Parker is based on the novel "Flashfire" by Richard Stark. Jason Statham has the opportunity to turn this single film into another franchise. Unfortunately Jason Statham's presence in this film doesn't have the bite that it could have. Tom Cruise took Jack Reacher and made it into something different than the book and intriguing enough to spawn possible sequels. Whether it was the adaptation of the novel or the direction, Parker just doesn't seem to fully come together.

All the pieces were there. From independent contractor Melander, to his established team of crooks including driver Carlson (Wendell Pierce, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2), demo expert Ross (Clifton Collins, The Event), and Chicago mob boss relative August Hardwich (Micah A. Hauptman, A Bag of Hammers), Parker has to contend with some legitimate baddies. Throw when a hired assassin Kroll (Daniel Bernhardt, Creature) contracted out of Chicago to off Parker after-the-fact and you got some good elements. Add in a beautiful damsel in the form of Jennifer Lopez, whose character Leslie is desperate on all fronts, and you have even more intrigue. The problem is Jennifer Lopez' Leslie is too desperate to quick and Michael Chiklis' Melander and his gang seem to be a little over their heads in their ability to plan and execute all but the simplest of heists. Add in some weird voice over work for both Hurley (Nick Nolte, Gangster Squad) and general crowd conversation and you get just as many distractions as you get anticipation.

Some of the film blazes by pretty quick, especially the opening scene with the original heist that Parker is a part of. But as more pieces fall onto the board, and Jennifer Lopez is introduced, things slow down just a little too much and the pace falls off. Jennifer Lopez's characters back story is interesting but not to the point of being all that critical to the film. When she opens up to her client Parker during one of their house tours it just seems a little to forced and static. When Parker finally hunts down his quarry, the pace of the story speeds up to a reasonable speed again.

Parker has its strengths, and its weaknesses. Jason Statham carries himself with his usual charm and action presence, and Chiklis and the other baddies are antagonizing enough. The story, though, does not live up to expectations. Parker takes a lot of abuse, but the audience suffers a little bit, too.

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Gangster Squad

DRAMA

New Territories

★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5 | Movie - DVD - Rental

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Rated: R Strong violence and language.
Release Date: January 11, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 53 minutes

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Director: Ruben Fleischer
Writers: Will Beall, Paul Liberman
Cast: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña, Giovanno Ribisi

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SYNOPSIS: In 1949, the chief of the LAPD enlists a group of police hard cases to form a gangster squad to go against Los Angeles crime boss Mickey Cohen.

REVIEW: 30 Minutes or Less and Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer goes dramatic Los Angeles mobster noir with a screenplay by Will Beall (Castle, the announced Justice League) from the book of the same name by Paul Lieberman. What happens when the law is not enough to keep organized crime in check? You create a task force with members more ruthless than the criminals ever were.

Ex-boxer Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn, Milk) only knows violence and power. He led with his fists in order to gain an upper hand in 1949 Los Angeles. As he controlled more and more of the city's organized crime, the cops and politicians not under Cohen's thumb are near powerless to combat the power hungry thug turned crime boss. Chief Parker (Nick Nolte, Warrior) enlists the service of homicide squad Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin, Men In Black III) to put together a squad of men who would work beyond the boundaries of the law in order to dish out justice against Cohen and his syndicate.

Gangster Squad is inspired by a true story as the men and women of post-war Los Angeles suffer under the rule of the mob. Part L.A. Confidential and part The Untouchables, Brolin's O'Mara puts together a squad of hard cases to work without the protective shield of the L.A.P.D. badge. Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March) is the young capable cop who has as many vices as he does virtues. African American Officer Coleman Harris (Anthony Mackie, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) on the beat is the only thing that stands in the way of heroin hitting his local streets. And Sgt. O'Mara's wife's urging, O'Mara ends up picking up old-style western six-shooter Officer Max Kennard (Robert Patrick, Trouble with the Curve) to give some accuracy to the boys' shooting. Tagging along with Kennard is a companion Officer Navidad Ramirez (Michael Peña, End of Watch) who doesn't seem to be right for the job but stands behind his guns when necessary. Rounding out the squad is Officer Conway Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi, Ted) who counterbalances to team's brawn with some brains as a former Army intelligence officer with skills and wiretapping to try to get at the bottom of Cohen's criminal mechanisms. 

There may be several members to the righteous Gangsters Squad but Mickey Cohen has his own men surrounding him loaded to bear. Most serve as cannon fodder and human shields to protect, but Cohen does surround himself with a trusted bodyguard and his number one lieutenant who serve him above all else. But none of the men who carry Tommy guns and carry out Cohen's orders are no match for the power-hungry man himself. Brolin's O'Mara has his hands full with the weathered, progressive-thinker brute with a plan grander than the city itself. The Chicago mobs may have clung to the old ways just a little to long, allowing themselves to be lulled into thinking their empires couldn't be toppled.

Tommy guns roar and bullets riddle both personal property and torsos. The film pulls no punches as hot lead and closed fists lead to sprays of blood. Embroiled with men on both sides of the law, Grace Faraday (Emma Stone, The Amazing Spider-Man) serves as the softer side of a story filled with hardened and driven men. A girl just trying to make it in Hollywood Land, Faraday ends up being an evening gown swishing, crimson-lipped dame on the air of both the domineering Mickey Cohen and the charismatic Jerry Wooter. Stone smokes up each scene she walks her gams into, but sometimes does not have enough to do to warrant part of the story.

Gangster Squad is the perfect post-noir period piece for your hard-boiled enjoyment. Of course, there are moments of Hollywood Land cinematic bravado. Such things are inevitable when there is such a vast library of storytelling already projected on the silver screen, plus guns and gristled men of action. Quentin Tarantino would be proud of the mob/gangster squad standoffs. And Kevin Costner, remember that scene at the train station with Elliot Ness in The Untouchables? Brolin, Gosling, and Penn ellipse that with more bullets and blood on the carpeted steps of a posh hotel. Director Fleischer and writer Beall ramp up the violence, the intrigue and the humor. Michael Peña and Giovanni Ribisi add their own sense of style to the keep the mood as light as it can handle.

Gangster Squad is the perfect blend of bullets, blood, and classy babes. Brolin's square jaw, Penn's piercing stares, Gosling's charisma, and Stone's sultry eyes make for fine entertainment taking place on the streets of the City of Angels.

Warrior

Gripping and Powerful

Director: Gavin O'Connor
Writers: Gavin O'Connor, Anthony Tambakis, Cliff Dorfman
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison, Frank Grillo

SYNOPSIS: A huge Mixed Martial Arts tournament puts a financially struggling family man on a collision course with his ex-boxer, ex-alcoholic father and his driven, hate-filled ex-Marine younger brother.

REVIEW: Gavin O'Connor, director of Miracle and Pride and Glory, takes a script he wrote with Anthony Tambakis, Cliff Dorfman for Warrior. A drama based on two brothers, their ex-boxer father and a quest for one brother to proof his worth and the other to provide for his family. Is it the upbringing of violence that drives these men to make the decisions they do - or something else?

Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgerton from Kinky Boot and the upcoming The Thing prequel), the oldest son of ex-boxer Paddy (Nick Nolte), struggles to keep his family afloat on his salary during the depressed economy. Youngest son and ex-Marine Tommy Riordan (Tom Hardy from Inception and the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises) returns home a reluctant hero and looks to train for a Mixed Martial Arts tournament with a huge pay day. Returning to the sport as an amateur to make extra money, Brendan finds himself on a collision course to face his brother in the tournament and deal with all of the bad blood between his father and brother.

A gripping, exhilarating and powerful sports drama, Warrior shows the extent a man will go to protect and provide for his family, and well as the possible physical and emotional implications of a broken, dysfunctional upbringing. Can Paddy gain forgiveness from his sons for the drunken abuse he dished out on his wife and sons? Can Tommy let go the hatred for Brendan and his father for the deep-seated feelings of abandonment and being forced to become a man too soon to protect his now-deceased mother? Can Brendan gain the respect of his brother? Although Warrior is being touted as a uplifting sports drama, the film delves deep into the psyche of a broken, near-irreparable family whose only only emotional release seems to come from violence and brutal physical contact.

The cast is superb. Nick Nolte, with his piercing eyes, worn face and gravelly voice intact, embodies an old weathered broken man haunted by his past sins looking to gain even a small measure of forgiveness from his sons. Almost 1,000 days sober when the movie begins, Paddy has turned to listening to Moby Dick on audio book - a direct parallel of a man chasing something that may be at once both unattainable and ultimately the source of his own destruction. Tom Hardy, as Tommy, bulked up to the Nth degree, casts a unnerving and unflinching shadow against his father and brother, driven to the tournament to atone for his own past sins. Every scene between him and the men in his family is an instruction on conveying a bottled-up rage. Joel Edgerton, as Brendan, remains stoic, knowing that fighting is the only way to ensure that his family will not be forced into foreclosure due to bank recommended over-extension and an upside-down mortgage.

Warrior is akin to the original Rocky in that the film is as much about the drama between people as it is about the sport of fighting. Dramatic, empowering, brutal and, at times, funny, Warrior is an example of how a film extends past what its commercials claims it to be. A brutal, hard look at a family's dysfunction, Warrior shows how the healing of old deep jagged wounds can only be achieved by the opening up of new ones.

WORTH: Matinee or DVD