Even thieves have principles.
At least some of them.
The Story:
Our hero, Parker (Jason Statham) is a crook, but one with principles. He goes in on a job, and expects his fair share of $200,000 from the take. Unfortunately, Melander (Michael Chiklis) double-crosses him when Parker refuses to put his share up in the stake of another heist. Shot, abandoned and left for dead along a highway, the other crooks take Parker's share and plan their next ruse. However, Parker doesn't die that easily, and with the help of a real-estate agent (Jennifer Lopez), Parker is going to get his revenge...
And his $200,000!
Does it sound familiar?
Sounds an awful lot like Payback.
That's because both are based on the same character by the same author.
Statham takes a nice turn as the bad guy with a heart of gold, who only wants what was rightfully his in the first place.
His take on a Texas accent leaves a lot to be desired, but luckily he drops that fairly quickly.
As for the Jennifer Lopez angle... hard to see what, or why this was needed. She's obviously pining for a big strong man like Parker, yet he's happily married to a girl already, and faithful to a "t".
Principles, remember?
So what should have provided the film with some smoldering chemistry the storyline demanded... well, it just sort of fizzled out.
All in all... it's not bad... it just should've been a bit better.
Final Grade: B-
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I could watch it again if it was on, but there are more important Statham films in the queue to be replayed first.
