Juego sucio

If you're a fan of Mark Wahlberg (and I am), then this is a completely watchable movie that provides a couple of hours of entertainment. But it's no better than a 6. There are some clever plot twists and a good "buddy" feel of him working with his gang.

But there are two oddities that bugged me a fair amount. First was a serious "this must have been done with AI" feel to many of the big actions scenes. Car crashes, train derailments, you have it, they felt "created;" they didn't look "real". Second was the against type casting of Wahlberg, Keegan Michael Key, Tony Shaloub as not-so-likeable criminals undermined the movie for me. Shaloub just doesn't seem like a mob boss, especially not one with an Italian-sounding name.

Bottom line: if you are looking for a little entertainment, and happy with the "Ah! That's why they did that!" moments in the movie, you'll enjoy it enough to spend the time.

What exactly happened to Mark Wahlberg? He used to headline solid films like Shooter, The Departed, and even did great in comedy with The Other Guys. But lately, it feels like he signs up for every bad script that lands on his desk.

Play Dirty is just another forgettable entry on that list. Mark has the money and the reputation.. so why waste it on these throwaway projects? Honestly, the probability of him starring in a good movie these days feels like 1 out of 10, and that says a lot.

What is his agent even doing? Isn't their job to filter scripts and protect his career? Instead, they're turning him into a running joke. Mark deserves better, and so do we as the audience!

This is a strange take on the parker books, miscast and the wrong genre. There's only one trait that the protagonist shares with parker and that is that he's a killer.

The film is fine for wasting a couple of hours on an action movie, it morphs into a james bond/fast and furious clone and does so competently.

A few laughs, a few bangs and some titillation - that should have been my title.

Such a waste of great talent. It's like a bunch of fifth graders wrote and directed this convoluted plot-hole riddled nonsense. There were so many pointless scenes that seem like they should matter, but never do (e.g. Why always room 12?). Then it jumps between a serious tone to a lame comedy, like an failed SNL skit that didn't make the cut. Never mind the lack of any real plot advancement in between the useless scenes, the ridiculously slow pacing and overlong runtime. Don't even get me started on the horrible editing, especially in the first scene which set the stage for this messy nonsense. It's a generous 5/10 all for the all star cast doing their best with the garbage the filmmakers gave them to work with.

This was almost funny, almost exciting and almost clever. It had all the ingredients for another Nice Guys or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang but somehow it just passed by instead. I'm not going to pretend I know what went wrong, it just didn't work for me. Maybe it will for you, so good luck with that. I hope you get along.