Parker (2013 film)

''Parker'' is a 2013 American action thriller film directed by Taylor Hackford and written by John J. McLaughlin. Starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez, the film is adapted from ''Flashfire'', the 19th Parker novel, written by Donald Westlake under the pen name Richard Stark.

Primarily set in Palm Beach, Florida, the film revolves around professional thief Parker (Statham), who is double-crossed by his crew. He sets out for revenge on them, helped by a real-estate agent (Lopez) in a quest to steal what his former accomplices intend to rob at a jewelry heist. ''Parker'' marked a departure for Hackford, who hoped to make it his first film noir. The film, produced on a $35 million budget, was conceived following Westlake's 2008 death, when producer Les Alexander secured the rights to it.

It premiered in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 24, 2013, and was released in the United States on January 25. Reviews were generally mixed, with many critics feeling that it was a poor adaptation of the book, and typical of Statham's sub-par action films of the past few years. Others found Statham well-fitted for the role of Parker and praised Lopez for providing comedic relief. It grossed $46 million worldwide at the box office.

''Parker'' premiered on Netflix in the United States in March 2021, and a week later was briefly the #1 film on the streaming service.

Plot

Parker is a professional thief; his mentor Hurley asks him to take charge of a job with a crew he doesn't know, consisting of Melander, Carlson, Ross, and Hardwicke. They succeed in robbing the Ohio State Fair, but Hardwicke alters part of Parker's plan, resulting in an unnecessary death.

Parker, angry about the killing, refuses to participate in a jewel robbery they offer. Needing his share of the Ohio loot to finance the bigger job anyway, Melander tells Hardwicke to kill Parker and they leave him on the side of the road. He survives and is picked up by farmers. After escaping from the hospital, Hurley directs him to New Orleans, where Hardwicke's brother tells him the crew are in Palm Beach, Florida. Hurley tries to convince Parker to take his own money and leave the issue alone to protect him and his daughter Claire (also Parker's girlfriend) from retribution brought on by Hardwicke's uncle Danzinger, a mob boss in Chicago. Parker refuses.

Danzinger's hitman tries to capture Claire, but she escapes. Parker goes to Palm Beach and masquerades as a rich Texas oil baron named Parmitt looking for an expensive house. Real estate agent Leslie Rodgers shows him a supposedly vacant home recently purchased by someone named Rodrigo, which piques his interest. Leslie, a struggling divorcee, asks Parker on a date, but he declines. When she checks his credit she finds his identity (obtained from one of Hurley's connections) is phony. Desperate for money and a way out of her mother's condo, she offers her help. When Parker tells her the next job is a jewel heist, Leslie says there is a jewel auction nearby.

The hitman finds Parker and attacks him in his hotel, but Parker throws him from the balcony and escapes. A cop comes to Leslie's condo asking about Parmitt and the altercation (since she showed him houses), and during the conversation she finds a bleeding Parker on her porch. She convinces the cop to leave and goes to work; she is devastated when she returns to see Claire tending to Parker's wounds. Despite his injuries he insists on carrying out his revenge against Melander's crew that night.

Melander and his crew enter the auction to set up speakers rigged to explode. Later on, they enter as a fire team and steal the jewels, escaping by water. Parker waits for them at their house; earlier, he broke in and planted guns and damaged their weapons' firing pins. When they return, he prepares to attack, but Leslie also arrives (unplanned) and is captured by Melander. With the help of one of his planted guns and the bent firing pins, Leslie and Parker manage to kill the entire crew.

Parker gives Leslie the jewels for safe keeping and tells her he will find a way to fence them in the future. He subsequently kills Danzinger in Chicago, mails Leslie her cut a year and a half later and sends money to the farmers who saved him.

Cast

Production

Conception

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. He had also been depicted in several films including ''Point Blank'' (1967) and ''Payback'' (1999), among others. 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. Alexander hired a friend of his named John McLaughlin to write the screenplay for ''Parker'', and then director Taylor Hackford became involved. 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.

Hackford directed the film, and Steven Chasman, Hackford, Alexander, Sidney Kimmel

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