Tag Archives: jason statham

Parker

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Parker is directed by veteran Taylor Hackford (Proof of Life, Ray) and is all about showcasing Jason Statham as……the tough guy.  Very few do tough guy better that Statham.  In the tough guy pantheon there is Clint, Bruce and Jason.  I think in a battle of the great tough guys, I might vote for Statham with that east end accent.  The toughest guy I know is Welsh, played Rugby, looks a bit like Statham and has the same evil smile while he’s kicking the shit out of someone….usually larger than him.

And then there is Jennifer Lopez of the big booty.  She plays a down-on-her-luck Palm Beach wannabe mansion broker in credit carded Tahari suits.  The great thing here is that she wants Statham, but looses out to sweet-talking Emma Booth.  You have to love that reversal.  Who but Statham could ignore the advances of JLo?

What you also have to love is that in the Capital of money culture, this story places the money way behind the righteousness.  It’s almost like Payback when Mel Gibson only wants his $60k and no more, much to everyone’s dismay.   Here Statham wants his $200k and not the $50 million of jewelry.  He even does a little Robin Hood for those who have helped him. Just what Palm Beach needs.

The other noteworthy performances were Patty Lupone as JLo’s very cool mom and Nick Nolte as Statham’s wizened mentor.  Lupone was refreshing and wonderful and Nolte should just watch reruns of Rich Man Poor Man and stay off the screen.  He is a walking ad for tea totaling and collar extenders for the man with the 25 inch neck.

Safe Review

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[dropcap style="font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;"] S [/dropcap] afe is just like a star manager driven hedge fund…..it’s great fun, action-packed and does not disappoint, but it really is all about a one-man show. Jason Statham is the sort of intense personality that whenever you see a film with Statham in it, you do not need to question what it is likely about. Ever since his debut in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells followed by Snatch, Statham has been a hit…..or should I say he’s been all about the hit.

What is it that we find so appealing about Statham? I think it’s very basic…he is as tough as nails and he can convince you of that with one grizzled look or one Cockney-spiked word. He is easily the most believable ultimate cage fighter in film….and that is the role he plays in Safe. The only unbelievable part is that he is a losing fighter. I simply can’t fathom Jason Statham losing in a fight.

One of my favorite new film lines is when Statham in Killer Elite (a much under-appreciated recent Statham film) says to Clive Owen, “It ain’t over until both sides say its over.”
So why is Safe sporting only a Metascore of 55 or a fan rating of only 6.8? I suspect that Statham is overexposed and his movies are blending into one another. The same thing that draws us to him are making audiences willing to miss his films in the theatre and probably make it up on video. I suspect he needs a strategic branding consultant. How can he shift his image by 5 degrees and not risk loosing his appeal? As tough to do as fighting for all it’s worth without hurting the other guy….

I like Statham and I always want to see his films.

Killer Elite Review

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[dropcap style="font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;"] K [/dropcap] iller Elite is simply a fun vehicle for Jason Stratham and Clive Owen to duke it out in an assassin v. assassin film. Do not mistake this for the similarly titled The Killer Elite with last generations’ macho men Robert Duvall and James Caan. This version is about going after ex-SAS where the 1975 version was about ex-CIA rogues. One thing this version has going for it is a last generation tough guy, Robert DeNiro, playing the ruthless and not quite yet toothless Hunter.

In a battle for pure toughness, I would always put my money on Stratham. Maybe it’s the East End accent or the virile half beard, but probably it’s that Celtic gene which he seems to possess, which says, “I will fuck you up as soon as look at you, you wanker!”. Owen, on the other hand is both handicapped by a well-bred moniker like Clive, a mustache like David Niven and a manner that just wants to make you say, “really?” when he takes on Stratham head-to-head. Calling him Spike did not help.

DeNiro has never really been a physical menace, but more the deep, dark brooding menace that is mentally tough. Nonetheless, he actually does a credible job of seeming pretty tough in an old school sort of way.

Now this story takes place in the UK and Oman and it is actually more realistic than it might initially seem. Great sheikdom wealth, even in exile, can and does revert to it’s Bedouin roots in seeking eye-for-an-eye vengeance and yet it is totally logical that the next generation, educated invariably at Eton or UCLA, wants less and less to do with the desert. This not only rings true, it is true.

On my travels to the Middle East, I found the exact same dynamic. Older sheiks who were tough as nails and treated their followers with regal paternalism and disdain and younger, Westernized kids who had never had to fight for their birthright, but now learned to grovel for it with their invariably disappointed fathers….and the women staying in the deep background all the while.

These new breed have substituted market trading toughness for physical toughness, so watch out you traders…..if there’s a Bedouin Counterparty in the trade, expect Stratham-like scrappiness.

Overall, a great action film.