SYNOPSIS: In “Play Dirty,” a new action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and LaKeith Stanfield, and now streaming on Prime Video, violent criminal Parker gets a chance at the score of a lifetime if he can outsmart, outlast and outwit a South American dictator, the world’s richest man and the New York mob.
CAST: Mark Wahlberg, LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nat Wolff, Thomas Jane, Tony Shalhoub. Directed by Shane Black.
REVIEW: Based on the hard-boiled novels by Donald E. Westlake, writing under the name Richard Stark, “Play Dirty” is an overblown throwback to the action comedies of the 1980s and 1990s.
Director Shane Black opens the movie with a wild and wooly action scene that sees expert thief Parker, the movie’s antihero lead played by a strangely unengaged Mark Wahlberg, as part of a violent bank heist gone wrong. The resulting car chase, that sees the good guys and bad guys careening through a horserace, is nutso and sets the over-the-top tone of what is to follow.
The convoluted story then focuses on Parker, and his gang, which includes, freedom fighter Zen (Rosa Salazar), a South American criminal who instigates the theft of one of her country’s national treasures to bankroll a revolution that will topple her government, Grofield (LaKeith Stanfield), a criminal with dreams of being an actor and scammers Ed and Brenda Mackey (Keegan-Michael Key and Claire Lovering).
Their complicated plan to steal a giant statue takes up most of the overlong two-hour runtime, but the fun isn’t in the heist, it’s in the characters. Black, who cowrote the script with Charles Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi, has a knack for creating antiheroes with pizazz. Standouts include Stanfield, who easily steals scenes from Wahlberg, Salazar as a femme fatale with a way with a funny line and a weapon, and Nat Wolff, whose character Kincaid takes a licking but keeps on ticking.
They all hand in work that feels like they understand that the absurd nature of Black’s big set pieces and the film’s callous disregard for human life is cartoony in nature. It’s Wahlberg who doesn’t appear to be in on the joke. Parker is a hardened criminal, an unrepentant killer and thief, who only seems to come alive when he is un-aliving someone, which is a lot of the time, but not enough to animate the character.
“Play Dirty” has some of the trademark Shane Black verve. His best work is characterized by odd-couple dynamics, flawed leads, sharp dialogue and twisty-turny plots. He helped define the late 1980s action-comedy genre with the scripts for the “Lethal Weapon” franchise, and his underrated “The Nice Guys” is a near perfect buddy flick.
“Play Dirty” doesn’t stand up by comparison to those films—it’s mostly as generic as its title—but it has enough direct to streaming energy and charm to be earn a watch.
The website Movieweb rounds up ten movies from before 1980 everyone should watch at least once. Included in the list is “The Devils,” the Ken Russell film and the subject of my book “Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of The Devils,” which gets name checked in the article.
On the Saturday August 30, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Lauren Holly. You know her from television shows like “Picket Fences,” “NCIS” and “Motive,” among many others. On the big screen you’ve seen her as Mary Swanson, the wealthy but troubled heiress, in the comedy “Dumb and Dumber,” as trophy wife Cindy Rooney opposite Dennis Quaid in “Any Given Sunday,” and many others in a career that spans forty years, and includes comedies like “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane” and “What Women Want,” action movies like “Crank: High Voltage” and dramas like “Chicago Hope.”
She joins me today to talk about “Loathe Thy Neighbor,” a new project very near and dear to her heart. The film, which begins in theatres on August 29, follows Will Larkfield, played by Brennan Clost, a young man forced to relocate to his late father’s farm as part of an unexpected inheritance. What begins as a simple missing package soon spirals into a battle of wills with Lauren Holly’s character, the neighbor from hell, Wanda Bellerose, reminding us that sometimes the smallest problems cause the biggest messes.
Then, guest James Webb tells his an incredible story. Hailing from Australia, he’s a competitive eater, ranked fourth in the world. He has shattered records, by devouring 59.5 donuts in one sitting and taking on the biggest names in the sport.
After overcoming a near-paralyzing illness, James has risen to become the “Champion of the Southern Hemisphere,” with his sights set on dethroning the legendary Joey Chestnut at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Today we’re talking about competitive eating as a sport, how he prepares and the documentary “James Can Eat,” his story of resilience, obsession, and jaw-dropping feats will leave you hungry for more!
Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!
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I chose the Toronto International Film Festival movie I am most excited to see for Toronto Star film critic Peter Howell’s annual TIFF round-up.
“When I first heard Guillermo del Toro talking about wanting to make his version of Frankenstein, I was excited. That was twenty years ago. Now that the long wait is over, I’m still excited to see the classic story brought to life through del Toro’s unique lens.”
I join CP24 to talk about new movies playing in theatres, including the dark comedy “The Roses,” the relationship farce “Splitsville” and the gritty crime drama “Caught Stealing.”
I join CTV Atlantic anchor Todd Battis to talk about the dark comedy “The Roses,” the relationship farce “Splitsville,” the gritty crime drama “Caught Stealing” and the rebirth of “The Toxic Avenger.”
Jim Richards is off, so I sit in with host Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to go over some of the week’s biggest entertainment stories and let you know what’s happening in theatres. We talk about Guillermo del Toro’s “Bleak House” memorabilia auction, Bill Belchick’s “gold digger” trademark, The Wizard of AI, Taylor Swift’s impact on the wedding business and two movie reviews, “Caught Stealing” and “The Roses.”
I joined CTV NewsChannel anchor Roger Peterson to have a look at new movies coming to theatres including the dark comedy “The Roses,” the relationship farce “Splitsville” and the gritty crime drama “Caught Stealing.”
SYNOPSIS: In “Play Dirty,” a new action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and LaKeith Stanfield, and now streaming on Prime Video, violent criminal Parker gets a chance at the score of a lifetime if he can outsmart, outlast and outwit a South American dictator, the world’s richest man and the New York mob.
