| Play Dirty | |
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_poster.jpg) Release poster | |
| Directed by | Shane Black |
| Written by |
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| Based on | the "Parker" series byRichard Stark |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Philippe Rousselot |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Amazon MGM Studios (viaPrime Video) |
Release date |
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Running time | 128 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Play Dirty is a 2025 Americanheistaction thriller film co-written and directed byShane Black. It is based on theParker book series byDonald E. Westlake, written under the pen name Richard Stark. The film starsMark Wahlberg as the lead character Parker andLaKeith Stanfield asGrofield, another recurring Stark character, along withRosa Salazar,Keegan-Michael Key,Chukwudi Iwuji,Nat Wolff,Gretchen Mol,Thomas Jane, andTony Shalhoub. It was released byAmazon MGM Studios viaPrime Video on October 1, 2025.
Professional thieves Parker and Philly lead a heist at aracetrackcount room, but an employee kills one of the thieves and wounds Philly, driving away with the stolen money and his family. Parker pursues him onto the racetrack and shoots him dead, bribing his wife and escaping with the score. The thieves are betrayed by getaway driver Zen, who shoots Philly and the others as a wounded Parker falls into a nearby river. Recuperating at a motel, Parker promises Philly's widow Grace to avenge her husband.
With help from fellow thief Grofield, who runs a struggling theatre company, Parker tracks down Zen's associate Reggie, who reveals Zen was a member of adeath squad in her home country. Her fellow mercenaries kill Reggie and his driver, but Parker forces the surviving gunman to bring him to Zen. Killing her contact Bosco, Parker confronts Zen, who admits she used the racetrack score to fund a new score: Her country's corrupt President De La Paz has hired a crime syndicate, the Outfit, to steal treasure from a shipwreck De La Paz will be displaying atthe UN, in order to sell the $1 billion treasure himself.
Parker and Grofield meet with Zen and her comrades, led by Colonel Ortiz, who plan to seize the treasure on behalf of their fellow citizens. Parker, exiled from New York City by the Outfit's leader Lozini, suggests they steal the treasure once the Outfit has stolen it from the UN. Parker and Zen question Bosco's boyfriend, fighting off the Outfit's men, and Parker drops Lozini's lieutenant Kincaid from a window while retrieving Bosco's plans for the UN robbery, hidden inside a stuffed elephant.
Married thieves Ed and Brenda Mackey and getaway driver Stan Devers are recruited for the heist: The Outfit will transport the stolen treasure by automated garbage train, which Parker's crew will derail. Zen attempts to seduce Parker, but her jealous comrade Mateo delivers him to the Outfit. Mateo is killed instead as Zen rescues Parker, and a phone call from Lozini reveals the Outfit is robbing the UN that night, forcing Parker's crew into action.
Posing asMTA workers, Ed and Brenda subdue the Outfit's inside man and hijack the train's switchboard. A drunk Stan crashes the getaway truck and nearly runs over Grofield, who shoots the failsafe brake, derailing the train. Parker, Zen, and Grofield discover the containers of treasure have been replaced with rocks, and Stan is shot in the leg as they flee in a stolen police car.
The crew turn on Parker for being outsmarted by the Outfit, but he convinces them to go after the shipwreck'sfigurehead worth $500 million. Grofield poses as a suicidal jumper as he and Parker lure Kincaid's bodyguard to the roof, throwing him to his death, and question the injured Kincaid, whose girlfriend reveals the figurehead is being sold to billionaire Phineas Paul. Parker kidnaps Phineas, shootingMark Cuban in the process, and learn the figurehead is inside a secure facility inGreen Brook Township, New Jersey.
Phineas escapes from an inebriated Stan and warns Lozini, who arrives at the facility just as Parker's crew drive off with the figurehead. The thieves escape in a snowy chase but lose the figurehead, which Phineas discovers is a replica. He informs De La Paz, who assumes Lozini has double-crossed him. Lozini and his men return to the facility, where Parker waited until the time-lock on the real vault opened. Destroying the genuine figurehead with explosives rather than let it fall into the wrong hands, Parker kills Lozini and escapes as De La Paz's guards slaughter the Outfit.
Leaving the crew with valuable jewels he saved from the figurehead, Parker confronts Zen, who suggests he join her for a simpler life in her home country, but Parker kills her to avenge Philly and the others. As Phineas and De La Paz's crimes are made public and Ortiz is named the new president, Parker delivers a share of the jewels to Grace, and he and Grofield return to their lives of crime.
Amazon MGM Studios,Team Downey andShane Black began working together on the project in March 2022, with Black having adapted a script from theParker novels withCharles Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi, with Black set as director.[2] Producers includeSusan Downey for Team Downey and Marc Toberoff, with Ezra Emanuel as a co-producer.[3] Amazon MGM Studios and Shane Black were working with producerJoel Silver on the project before Silver was replaced by Jules Daly in November 2023.[4] Black repurposed the film's title,Play Dirty, from his unused screenplay forLethal Weapon 2 (1989).[5]
Robert Downey Jr. was attached to the film as an actor prior toMark Wahlberg's involvement.[6] In January 2024,LaKeith Stanfield joined the cast of the film, portrayingGrofield.[7]Rosa Salazar also joined the cast in an undisclosed role.[8] In February,Dermot Mulroney andTony Shalhoub joined the cast in undisclosed roles.[9] In March,Keegan-Michael Key,Nat Wolff,Chukwudi Iwuji, andThomas Jane were added to the cast in undisclosed roles.[10]Principal photography began on March 19, 2024, inSydney Harbour.[11][12] Filming locations includeKu-ring-gai Council and theHills District.[13] In April 2025, Saskia Archer revealed she had been cast in the film in an undisclosed role.[14]
In February 2025,Alan Silvestri was hired to compose the film's score.[15]
The film was released byAmazon MGM Studios throughPrime Video on October 1, 2025.[16]
David Rooney forThe Hollywood Reporter writes that the film "lacks the spark to sell a sardonic master criminal" and that it was a "ho-hum caper".[17]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 43% of 63 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Play Dirty marks a welcome return for writer-director Shane Black to the realm of wisecracking crime thriller, but haphazard execution makes this vehicle less of a comeback and more just low-stakes mucking around."[18]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 46 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[19]
