Yes. That's Right. It's Actually Good.

Okay. Let's get it out of the way. I know it's not cool to like a trailer for a Jason Statham movie. I know that. It's a given that most movie bloggers will dismiss this as mere product and do so with as much snark as they can muster. And, yes, that's what they're doing. No surprise there.

And, to be sure, they might be right, but not from the look of this trailer. There's craft here. I'm watching this wondering 'Wait. Why does this look so good?'

Well, sure, I figured it would be 'just another Statham shoot-em-up, but by the end of the trailer I changed my mind. 'Parker' is directed by Taylor Hackford, who delivers, at the very least on the visual level and often on the story level though he sometimes misses by a tad or, perhaps, goes for something unattainable -- (Ray, Against All Odds, Proof of Life, Dolores Claiborne, etc.).

So, the camera is nice. But, then I'm thinking the dialogue has a flow and story/character arc(s) have that certain something...that elusive complexity that engages the mind and makes a movie worth mentioning down the road. Well, no surprise as John J. McLaughlin (Black Swan) wrote the script.

And, who's that? Whose face is that carefully hidden under all that hair? Jennifer Lopez? Well, wait, she was good, very good, in 'Out of Sight'. And that was directed by another capable guy, Steven Soderbergh. She comes through when she works with the right people. And, here she looks good again, she comes through again.

The whole trailer snaps. The whole thing clicks. So, yes. That's right. I'm betting this will be worth the time. Probably won't score big at the box office, at least in the US, but it'll be a good rental and get good numbers on TV/cable and could be considered must-see for movie buffs, if not necessarily for the average joe.

Usually, a Statham flick can be dismissed as pure popcorn but 'Parker' looks to have a spine. It may be popcorn but it's not pure. 






























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