Pen for Kids

Parker (Jason Statham) is a professional thief who lives by a personal code of ethics: he doesn't steal from people who can't afford it, and he doesn't hurt people who don't deserve it. However, on his latest heist, his crew double-crosses him, steals his stash, and leaves him for dead. Determined to make them regret it, Parker tracks them to Palm Beach, the playground of the rich and famous, where the crew is planning their biggest heist ever.

Donning the disguise of a rich Texan, Parker takes on an unlikely partner, Leslie (Jennifer Lopez), a savvy insider who's short on cash but big on looks, smarts, and ambition. Together, they devise a plan to hijack the score, take everyone down, and get away clean.

The great crime novelist Donald E. Westlake, writing under the pen name Richard Stark, created the deliciously enigmatic professional thief named Parker. Parker has appeared in several movie adaptations, but this is the first to identify him with that name.

Veteran director Taylor Hackford more than carries the weight for both Parker and Statham, crafting set pieces and entertaining crime fantasies right up to the inevitable happy ending for the felonious yet principled protagonist. Each setting, from Ohio to New Orleans to Palm Beach, has a distinct sense of place, and the audience roots for Parker in exactly the right way to show that bad guys can often be good, even when they're doing terrible things.

The Palm Beach third act is particularly noteworthy, thanks in part to Jennifer Lopez's performance as the lonely real-estate agent who teams up with Parker. Though Parker is not as great a movie as Steven Soderbergh's Elmore Leonard adaptation Out of Sight, Lopez truly shines.

The supporting cast, which includes Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Patti LuPone, Bobby Cannavale, and a thoroughly ravaged-looking Nick Nolte, is also interesting and committed.

Lots of movies have made heroes out of criminals, and Parker makes a fine entry to the world of violent, fun fantasies in which crooks come out on top. Statham's line featured in the trailer, "I don't steal from people who can't afford it, and I don't hurt people who don't deserve it," pretty much describes his ethos as well as the movie's slick take on crime-does-pay. Would that all Hollywood action movies could carry the same credo.

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