Parker (2013 film)

Jason Statham stated that Parker, although an anti-hero, has a likable quality.

Prior to this film, Parker had first appeared decades earlier in the 1962 novel The Hunter, written by Donald E. Westlake, which spawned a book series that included over twenty other novels.[6] He had also been depicted in several films including Point Blank (1967) and Payback (1999), among others.[6] Westlake always refused to let any adaptation name the character Parker unless producers agreed to adapt all the novels (Lee Marvin portrayed the character as Walker in Point Blank while Mel Gibson portrayed Porter in Payback). In 2008, following Westlake's death, his widow Abby, having been contacted by Les Alexander, a television producer who was a longtime acquaintance of Westlake's, agreed to sell the rights to one Parker novel (including the right to use Parker's name), with the option of several more being adapted later if the first film was successful.[7] Alexander hired a friend of his named John McLaughlin to write the screenplay for Parker, and then director Taylor Hackford became involved.[7] When the film opened, Taylor Hackford said in an interview that he didn't think Westlake would have agreed to let Parker's name be used under these circumstances.[8]

Hackford directed the film, and Steven Chasman, Hackford, Alexander, Sidney Kimmel, and Jonathan Mitchell produced.[9] Hackford was excited to make Parker his "first sort of film noir", stating: "I don't want to get stuck in a genre. What I like the most about this piece of material is that you can take a genre piece like this and turn it into a great movie."[10] Speaking with Palm Beach Daily News about what led him to Parker, Hackford stated "I’m a fan of Donald Westlake. I really think he’s a fabulous writer … very unique in the area of crime because 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".[7]

On April 18, 2011, Justin Kroll of Variety reported that Statham would play the role of Parker.[10][11] Of Parker, Statham has commented that he's "a man who lives by a certain moral code. ... So there’s a likeable quality to this anti-hero."[12] The actor noted that: "He’s involved in criminal activities but he perceives all business to be in some way crooked. He never steals from people who can’t afford it and he doesn’t hurt people that don’t deserve it."[6] During the film, Parker is seen posing as a priest and as a wealthy Texan named Daniel Parmitt from San Antonio.[13]

On June 21, 2011, it was revealed that Lopez was in talks to play "the female lead, a character named Leslie, who gets involved with Parker as he executes a heist".[14] Lopez's casting was confirmed, along with Nick Nolte, who played Parker's mentor. Lopez and Nolte previously worked together on the film U Turn (1997).[15] Hackford noted the role of Leslie as a departure from her other work, considering she has been acting in romantic comedies for the last several years.[16] Leslie is a "savvy insider" who's "short on cash, but big on looks, smarts and ambition."[17] Initially, she only partners with Parker for her own financial gain, but eventually becomes romantically involved with Parker.[18] Wendell Pierce, Clifton Collins Jr., Michael Chiklis, Patti LuPone, and Emma Booth also co-starred in Parker.[15] In the novel Flashfire, Leslie wasn't of Cuban descent. However, Hackford cast Lopez in the role and decided to re-write her as Cuban, hiring Italian-American LuPone to play her "domineering" mother.[7]

According to executive producer Nick Meyer, Parker was produced on a "mid-30s" budget range, which he described as "pretty good", "given the caliber of the movie".[19] The Times-Picayune's Mike Scott reported on June 23, 2011 that Parker would film in New Orleans for seven weeks starting July 18. Scott noted that filming in New Orleans was "good news" for the local film industry because it came "at a time that has historically seen a slowdown in major productions, due both to the oppressive heat and the arrival of hurricane season."[20] Playbill later confirmed that production for the film had begun on August 4, 2011, in New Orleans.[21] Filming briefly moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana from August 5–9.[22]

Parker was also filmed in Palm Beach, Florida, where Lopez and Statham were spotted that September.[12][23] In an interview with the town's local newspaper, Hackford said: "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 I was depicting both".[7] Variety noted that locals were also "shook up" by helicopters, firetrucks and marine patrol boats, "bringing big-time filmmaking to an area better known for leisure-time activities."[24] Cinematographer J. Michael Muro shot the film with Red Epic digital cameras and Hawk V-Lite anamorphic lenses.[25]

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 shot; this stunt was considered "really dangerous" and Hackford said he was "nervous when he went out that window" five or six times before the scene was finished.[26] In another scene, Statham had to hang off a building's balcony. The actor said he took a "real beating" from these scenes. He blamed this on wearing a wire, which got in the way of filming and made things feel "restricted", because they ripped up his arms.[27] In January 2012, filming for Parker concluded in Miami and in Columbus, Ohio.[28][29]

Parker was released in 2,224 U.S. theaters on January 25, 2013, grossing slightly over $7 million and opening at number five at the box office.[38] This was two million shy of what it was predicted to earn prior, and the film was considered an average grosser.[39][40] By the end of its 70-day North American release, Parker had grossed $17.6 million at the box office, placing it at the low end of Statham's wide release crime/action vehicles.[41] It finished in 118th place on the 2013 domestic release box office chart.[42] The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the United States on May 21, 2013.[43][44] It was not one of the Top 100 selling DVDs of 2013, grossing a total of $11,274,235 on DVD and Blu-ray.[1][45][46]

The studio required critics attending press screenings to sign an agreement that none of their reviews would appear in print before the film opened.[47] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 41% based on 107 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Jason Statham is game as usual, but Parker is a thoroughly generic and convoluted heist movie."[48] Metacritic gave the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[49] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[50]

John Semley of Slant Magazine was not receptive to Parker, panning its "painfully slapdash script",[51] although the Miami Herald's Connie Ogle felt that while it was a "stretch" with "absurdities", Statham "turns out to be a good choice to play the taciturn thief."[52] Christy Lemire, film critic for the Associated Press, felt that Statham is "not exactly pushing himself outside his comfort zone", and Lopez is "here to provide some comic relief as the wide-eyed fish out of water."[53]

Alonso Duralde of The Wrap called the film a "bore" considering Statham's potential as an action star,[54] and Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal was also negative, saying that the film set a "tin standard" for crime thrillers.[55]

Variety's Brian Lowry praised Hackford for fashioning the "50-year-old franchise into a neat-fitting outfit for Statham" which was "crisp and efficient", noting its use of Lopez to "good effect."[56] While reviewing Lopez's performance, many critics drew comparisons to Out of Sight in which Lopez starred opposite George Clooney 15 years earlier. 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 praised Statham as making a "convincingly bruised protagonist."[47] A. O. Scott of The New York Times gave Parker a positive review, enjoying Lopez's "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."[57]

Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times positively reviewed the film, calling it a "faithful adaption" of Flashfire,[58] although film reviewer James Berardinelli was displeased with the lack of character development for Leslie, criticizing the heavy amount of screen-time dedicated to Parker's girlfriend Claire (Emma Booth). Nonetheless, Berardinelli gave Parker a generally positive review, summarizing its action scenes as "crisply directed, brutal, and invigorating."[59]

Other critics panned Parker and its action sequences to be predictable and generic. Writing for The A.V. Club, Josh Modell said the film's beginning was "fairly strong", although the action "gets more predictable as it meanders toward its conclusion."[60] Peter Howell of the Toronto Star said the film started off "promisingly" but ended "predictable",[61] while the Montreal Gazette's Bill Brownstein panned the film by stating, "Much gunplay and bloodletting ensues. The body count is high. Intrigue is low."[62] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly's review was along the same lines, calling it "unremarkably generic" and "insanely bloody."[63]