“I have been waiting a long time to get a script like this”

Mark Wahlberg gives a taste of his upcoming film Play dirtyIn the crime thriller written and directed by Shane Black, Wahlberg plays a thief named Parker who is planning an ambitious robbery. The character is taken from a series of novels by Donald Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark. In addition to Wahlberg Play dirtyThe cast includes Rosa Salazar, Dermot Mulroney, LaKeith Stanfield, Tony Shalhoub, Keegan-Michael Key and Chukwudi Iwuji.

When speaking with Collider, Wahlberg in comparison Play dirty To The Italian job And heat. He shared his excitement to be part of the heist film, saying that it was a rewarding project to play between the story, tone and genre, along with Black’s direction and screenplay. Wahlberg also compared Play dirty to another cult action film as he expressed how much fun he had bringing the film to life. Check out Wahlberg’s comments below:

For me, it’s like The Italian Job meets Heat. It’s got action, it’s got high stakes, it’s got humor, it’s got these great characters, Shane Black’s best dialogue. I’ve been waiting a long time to get a script like this. Every time we talked about it, “Okay, what kind of movie do you want to do as an actor, if we’re talking about a big, huge commercial movie?” And Lethal Weapon was always right there, and some of the other movies that Shane has written, so I couldn’t have been happier. Hopefully he was as happy with the experience as I was.

“Play Dirty” could be Mark Wahlberg’s most successful project in years

Most of his films have received Rotten Tomatometer ratings since 2020

Although Wahlberg continues to bring plenty of star power to all of his projects, the actor’s films in recent years have not been well received by critics. Wahlberg’s latest film, a Netflix original The Unionhas received a critics score of 44% and an audience score of 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. His only film since 2020 that did not receive a bad Tomatometer rating is King ArthurHowever, it only achieved 70%, although it did much better with the general audience, who gave it 97%.

If Play dirty is on par with the films Wahlberg compares it to – The Italian job, heatAnd Deadly weapon – it will probably be Wahlberg’s best film in several years. Whether it’s an action heist film like The Italian jobthe much-quoted action comedy The slightly different copsor a crime thriller like The Departed, Wahlberg often does his best work as an action star. Play dirty In addition, the film benefits from a strong screenwriter and director as well as a star cast around Wahlberg.

Iwuji played one of the most memorable supervillains of recent years as High Evolutionary in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3; Keys’ comedic talent is unparalleled and Shalhoub is always phenomenal, no matter what role he plays. Black has extensive experience writing and directing action comediesand no new film has been released for several years, Play dirty all the more fascinating. If the film is as promising as Wahlberg suggests, it could be his best film of the 2020s.

Mark Wahlberg is not the first actor to play Parker

Parker’s stories have been adapted since the 1960s

While Play dirty will be a new interpretation of the fictional Parker, Wahlberg is not the first actor to play the character from Stark’s novels. In 2013, the action thriller Parker was released starring Jason Statham in the title role, with a cast that included Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Bobby Cannavale and Broadway legend Patti LuPone. ParkerThe story of the robbery was an adaptation of the 2000 novel Flash firebut was poorly received, receiving 41% critics’ score and 48% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Before 2013 ParkerThere were other films based on the character and his novels, although the protagonist had a different name in these earlier projects. The 1999 film repayment Mel Gibson played Porter in an adaptation of the 1962 Parker novel The Hunter. More than three decades earlier in 1967, The Hunter was first adapted into a film Point emptywith Lee Marvin playing a protagonist named Walker, who takes on the role of Parker in this version of the story.

With such a rich history behind the character Parker and his adapted stories, It will be fascinating to see how Play dirty differs from its predecessors. This is partly due to the comedy that Black is known for and that Wahlberg brings to the table, as many of the other adaptations have been more serious action thrillers. Wahlberg is able to make Parker feel new and refreshing in this latest and updated version of the long-running character.

Source: Collider