Film Review – Play Dirty (2025)

      **Play Dirty, 2025.**

      Directed by Shane Black.

      Starring Mark Wahlberg, LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nat Wolff, Thomas Jane, Tony Shalhoub, Gretchen Mol, Hemky Madera, Alejandro Edda, Dermot Mulroney, Yvonne Zima, Nicole da Silva, Saskia Archer, Claire Lovering, Chai Hansen, and Sebastian Carr.

      **SYNOPSIS:**

      Parker, an expert thief, is given an opportunity for a significant heist, but to succeed, he and his crew must outwit a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the wealthiest man in the world.

      The initial 30 minutes of co-writer/director Shane Black’s *Play Dirty* could have formed the foundation for an entire film. Given how little depth we receive about the characters throughout the over two-hour runtime (with roughly half of them getting killed off soon after their introduction) and the main narrative conflict being frustratingly set aside for a quick resolution in the last five minutes, these 30 minutes might have been expanded into a full-length film to better introduce the character of Parker, the career thief portrayed by Mark Wahlberg, and provide insight into the source material of this adaptation.

      It’s also possible that the entire *Play Dirty* is derived from a single book. If so, it feels like being dropped in the middle of a series, making it challenging to connect with much of anything. There is a whispered rule suggesting that streaming films must begin with a bang to immediately grab the audience's attention. Here, Shane Black exaggerates this notion by cramming a whole film’s worth of twists and fatalities right at the start. Perhaps it’s an attempt to innovate within the crime caper sub-genre, but it mostly results in chaotic attempts that feel forced.

      There is a semblance of a setup within that chaos. Parker’s latest job is a success (despite unexpected complications and impromptu car chases on a horse racing track, an inventive set piece that unfortunately suffers from poor CGI), and his team is set to leave with a significant payout. However, everything changes when Rosa Salazar’s Zen betrays them, stealing the money and killing Parker’s best friend (a wasted Thomas Jane) in the process. Parker then speaks to his grieving wife and decides to seek revenge in his friend’s name.

      While hunting down Zen (every character is surprisingly easy to track here, making the story feel overly contrived), Parker discovers that she is planning an even larger heist. This heist is monumental, aiming to restore riches to her unnamed South American homeland, controlled by a corrupt leader who intends to rob recently uncovered sunken treasure. She plans to steal it after another group, referred to as The Outfit, led by a character played by Tony Shalhoub, who has a history with Parker, completes their mission. At this point, Parker's motivation is either financial gain or a chance to exact revenge on his enemy (or perhaps both), yet whatever inner conflict or complex motives he may possess are not reflected in the performance or plot. The film then shifts into an endless sequence of multi-layered heists, continuously introducing more characters and chaos.

      The greatest disappointment, particularly for a Shane Black film (co-written with Charles Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi), is the lack of personality in the characters, the writing, and the humor. The sole exception is the struggling playwright Grofield (LaKeith Stanfield), who joins Parker’s new crew. His contributions to comic relief (like taking on various roles too seriously during the heist) are effective and feel less clichéd than the others. Even Parker and Zen are portrayed merely as thieves with differing motivations, one being slightly more virtuous than the other. The film’s main idea of robbers targeting other robbers feels underdeveloped and primarily serves to facilitate quick gags rather than forming the basis for a truly innovative crime caper.

      If there is one positive aspect, it’s that *Play Dirty* is so action-packed that its runtime breezes by, even if the action isn’t always particularly impressive (poor CGI detracts from some scenes). There is, however, one captivating set piece that involves manipulating a train’s speed and safety checks to intentionally derail it while carrying stolen cargo; this sequence is thrilling and engaging, contrasting with many other moments that lack a sense of careful structure and where it seems like the heist might fail. Beyond that, the plot unfolds too conveniently for the characters; there is always someone nearby who knows where they can find whom they need.

      This critique isn’t meant to be overly harsh on *Play Dirty*, as it is still enjoyable to see Shane Black back in familiar territory (the film is even set during Christmas), but amidst the amusing, chaotic