Parker (2. 01. 3 film) - Wikipedia. Parker is a 2. 01. American actioncrime film directed by Taylor Hackford and written by John J.

Mc. Laughlin. Starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez, the film is adapted from Flashfire, the 1. Parker novel, written by Donald Westlake under the pen name Richard Stark. Primarily set in Palm Beach, Florida, the film revolves around professional thief Parker (Statham), who is double- crossed by his crew. He sets out for revenge on them, helped by a real- estate agent (Lopez) in a quest to steal what his former accomplices intend to rob at a jewelry heist. Parker marked a departure for Hackford, who hoped to make it his first film noir.

The film, produced on a $3. Westlake's 2. 00. Les Alexander secured the rights to it. It premiered in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 2. United States on January 2.

Reviews were generally mixed, with many critics feeling that it was a poor adaptation of the book, and typical of Statham's sub- par action films of the past few years. Others found Statham well- fitted for the role of Parker and praised Lopez for providing comedic relief. It grossed $4. 6 million worldwide at the box office. Parker (Jason Statham) is a professional thief, specializing in big robberies, who follows a unique code—he doesn't steal from the poor or hurt innocent people.

His mentor Hurley (Nick Nolte) asks him take charge of a job with a crew he doesn't know, consisting of Melander (Michael Chiklis), Carlson (Wendell Pierce), Ross (Clifton Collins Jr.), and Hardwicke (Micah Hauptman). The job, taking the gate money from the Ohio State Fair, is successful, but Hardwicke ignored instructions, resulting in him needlessly killing a man in a fire that was set as a distraction. Parker, disgusted with the crew's unprofessional standards, refuses to participate in another robbery that could net them millions.

Needing his share of the Ohio loot to finance the bigger job, Melander's crew decides to shoot Parker and leave him to die alongside a road. Having barely survived, Parker is found by a family of tomato farmers who take him to the hospital, where he subdues a male nurse, steals his uniform, and escapes. He then robs a check- cashing store, shooting the proprietor in the leg, ties up both the proprietor and his employee, gagging them with duct tape, then steals a woman's car. Parker tells Hurley he wants to go after the double- crossing Melander, who has gone to Palm Beach, Florida for another heist. Upon learning that Parker is alive, the crew uses mob connections to hire a hitman named Kroll (Daniel Bernhardt).

Kroll tries to kidnap Parker's girlfriend Claire (Emma Booth), who is Hurley's daughter. She narrowly escapes and goes into hiding. Hurley is worried and suggests Parker run away with her, but Parker is completely intent on revenge. In Palm Beach, Parker poses as a wealthy Texan named Daniel Parmitt, looking for a place to live. Leslie Rodgers (Jennifer Lopez) is a depressed, unsuccessful real- estate agent living with her mother (Patti Lu. Pone), struggling financially after a divorce. She is thrilled when Parker (as Parmitt) appears to become interested in her properties because she is desperate for a commission.

Leslie becomes suspicious when Parker only shows interest in a house that a man named Rodrigo recently purchased and is remodelling. In reality, Rodrigo is Melander, who is staying in the house with the crew in anticipation of a $5. Parker returns to the house to plant his guns, find their weapons and disable the firing pins. Leslie finds out that Parker is using a fake identity. She offers her local knowledge in exchange for a commission of the robbery. He considers it only after making Leslie strip to show she isn't wearing a wire.

Together, they plan to steal the jewels from Melander after he robs them from the auction. Leslie makes a pass at Parker, but he remains distant, though obviously attracted to her. Melander's crew disguise themselves as delivery men. Meanwhile, Kroll learns that Parker is in Palm Beach, and he attempts to kill him. After a brutal and bloody fight, Kroll stabs Parker through the hand, but ends up falling to his death from Parker's hotel balcony.

The next morning, Palm Beach Sheriff's Deputy Jake Fernandez (Bobby Cannavale) arrives with questions for Leslie after learning that she was in business with Daniel Parmitt. She is shocked when she discovers a bloody Parker hiding in her house with her mother's permission. At her workplace, Leslie is horrified when she watches a video of Kroll's death online, which was filmed by local onlookers. At Parker's request, she contacts Claire, who comes to stitch up his wounds.

Their subsequent encounter makes it clear to Leslie that Claire is the woman in his life. The crew successfully steals the jewels. They swim back to the house, where a weak and injured Parker is waiting to ambush them.

State of Play is a 2009 British-French-American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six-part British television serial of the same name which first.

Worried that Parker might need help, Leslie begins snooping around the garden. She is found and taken inside, where the crew abuse and question her, assuming she and Parker are working together. Ross goes outside where he is stabbed in the neck to death by Parker. Melander's other men begin to panic.

Melander finds Parker and a fight ensues. Carlson starts to molest Leslie, but she shoots him with a gun she noticed under the table that Parker had planted. Watch Blood Widow IMDB. Parker, in spite of his wounds, is able to kill Melander. All members of the crew end up dead.

• Parker is a 2013 American action crime film directed by Taylor Hackford and written by John J. McLaughlin. Starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez, the film is.
• Cast, crew, reviews, plot summary, and photos.
• Kilauea; Mount Etna; Mount Yasur; Mount Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira; Piton de la Fournaise; Erta Ale.

Directed by Taylor Hackford. With Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Plummer, Judy Parfitt. A big-city reporter travels to the small town where her mother.

Parker and Leslie arrange for the jewels to be hidden and for her to be sent her cut. They part ways, Parker showing some regret as she leaves. Six months later, Parker goes to Chicago and kills the syndicate boss who hired Kroll to kill him. One year later, Leslie receives two hefty boxes in the mail containing several million dollars.

The tomato farmers who saved Parker's life are shown talking to somebody about how they somehow got a great deal of money that has changed their lives. They credit the stranger, thinking he must have been an angel sent to test them.

Production[edit]Conception[edit]Jason Statham stated that Parker, although an anti- hero, has a likable quality. Prior to this film, Parker had first appeared decades earlier in the 1. The Hunter, written by Donald E. Westlake, which spawned into a book series that included over twenty other novels.[9] He had also been depicted in several films including Point Blank (1.

Payback (1. 99. 9), among others.[9] Despite these films, Westlake always refused to let any of them use the character's name, saying he'd only allow that if they'd agree to adapt all the novels. In 2. 00. 8, following Westlake's death, his wife Abby, having been contacted by Les Alexander, a television producer who was a longtime acquaintance of Westlake's, agreed to sell the rights to one Parker novel (including the right to use Parker's name), with the option of several more being adapted later if the first film was successful.[7] Alexander hired a friend of his named John Mc. Laughlin to write the screenplay for Parker, and then director Taylor Hackford became involved.[7] When the film opened, Taylor Hackford said in an interview that he didn't think Westlake would have agreed to let Parker's name be used under these circumstances.[1. Hackford directed the film, and Steven Chasman, Hackford, Alexander, Sidney Kimmel, and Jonathan Mitchell produced.[1. Hackford was excited to make Parker his "first sort of film noir", stating: "I don't want to get stuck in a genre. What I like the most about this piece of material is that you can take a genre piece like this and turn it into a great movie."[3] Speaking with Palm Beach Daily News about what led him to Parker, Hackford stated "I’m a fan of Donald Westlake. I really think he’s a fabulous writer … very unique in the area of crime because his Parker series".

Hackford was attracted to Parker because he was a "strange character" and "sociopath" who, at the same time, isn't a sociopath, describing him as "compelling".[7]Pre- production and casting[edit]On April 1.

State of Play (film) - Wikipedia. State of Play is a 2. British- French- American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six- part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2.

The plot of the six- hour serial was condensed to fit a two- hour film format, with the location changed to Washington, D. C. The film was directed by Kevin Macdonald from a screenplay written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, Peter Morgan and Billy Ray. The film tells of a journalist's (Russell Crowe) probe into the suspicious death of a congressman's (Ben Affleck) mistress. The supporting cast includes Rachel Mc. Adams, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Robin Wright Penn and Jeff Daniels. Macdonald said that State of Play is influenced by the films of the 1.

American Homeland Security and to a minor extent journalistic independence, along with the relationship between politicians and the press. It was released in North America on April 1. The film received generally positive reviews. One night, a thief fleeing through Georgetown in Washington, D. C., is shot by a man carrying a briefcase.

A pizza delivery man who witnesses the incident is also shot by the killer and is left in a coma. The following morning, a young woman is killed by a Washington Metro train in what seems to be suicide. Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is distraught to hear that the woman was Sonia Baker (Maria Thayer), a lead researcher on his staff. Collins, who has military experience, is leading an investigation into Point. Corp, a private defense contractor with controversial operations involving mercenaries. Collins tells his former college roommate and old friend Cal Mc. Affrey (Russell Crowe), an investigative reporter, that he had been having an affair with Sonia and that she had sent him a cheerful video message on the morning of her death, which he says is inconsistent and unusual behavior for someone about to commit suicide.

Della Frye (Rachel Mc. Adams), a reporter and blogger with the online division of Cal's newspaper and its editor, Cameron Lynne (Helen Mirren), discover that Sonia's death occurred in one of only three CCTV blind spots in the Metro camera system. Cal believes the shootings are related to Sonia's death and finds a link between the petty thief and a homeless girl who sought out Cal. The girl gives him photographs that the thief, a friend of hers, had stolen from the killer's briefcase. The photos show surveillance images of Sonia talking to a well- dressed man. Della visits the hospital where the pizza delivery man is regaining consciousness and witnesses his murder by an unseen sniper. Later, she reviews CCTV footage and recognizes a man she saw at the hospital.

It is later revealed that Point. Corp stands to gain 3. U. S. in 2. 00. 9) annually from its mercenary activities in the Middle East and domestically. Cal speaks with Collins, who shares his research findings—Point. Corp is cooperating with other defense contractors to create a monopoly and purchase government surveillance and defense contracts, essentially privatizing United States security from the government. Cal's Point. Corp insider returns with the address of someone linked to the suspected assassin.

Cal finds the assassin living there and calls the police, who force the man to disappear after he shoots at Cal. Della, following a close lead, finds the identity of the well- dressed man who was speaking to Sonia in the listed photographs. He is Dominic Foy (Jason Bateman), a PR executive working for a subsidiary of Point. Corp. Cal blackmails him into talking about his activities with Sonia and secretly tapes their conversation. The PR executive reveals that Sonia was actually paid to spy on Collins and to seduce him to get information for Point. Corp, but she fell in love with Collins and was pregnant with his child when she was killed. Before Cal's newspaper goes to press, Collins goes on record to present his research into Point.

Corp. Collins's estranged wife Anne (Robin Wright Penn), whose conversation with Cal seems to imply a past love triangle dating back to their college years, reveals that she knows the amount of money Sonia received from Point. Corp, after just hearing Collins's statement to the newspaper. After the couple leaves, Cal realizes that Collins knew already that Sonia was working for Point. Corp. Cal wonders what Collins would have done had he known he had been tricked and whether Collins himself is connected with Sonia's assassin. A picture of Collins from his military days, with the assassin in the frame, confirms Cal's hunch.

Collins reveals that he had been suspicious of Sonia, and that he hired the assassin to watch her. The assassin is U. S. Army Corporal Robert Bingham (Michael Berresse), whose life Collins had once saved. Collins says that Bingham hated Point.

Corp more than he did, and that he killed Sonia with no authorization from him. Cal tells Collins that he has three minutes to leave his office before the police arrive, as he has already contacted them.

As he leaves the building, Cal is confronted by Bingham. Officers arrive and shoot Bingham before he opens fire. Cal leaves and goes to his office. There, Cal and Della type up their own story, noting that Collins was secured and arrested. For the movie adaptation, certain names of characters were changed: Della's surname was changed from "Smith" to "Frye".

Cameron's surname was changed from "Foster" to "Lynne," and obviously the character's gender was changed. Andrew's surname was changed from "Wilson" to "Pell". Det. Bell's first name was changed from "William" to "Donald".

Production[edit]The mini- television series was written by Paul Abbott and aired on British television channel BBC One in May–June 2. BBC America in April 2. Abbott was initially reluctant to sell the film rights to State of Play, fearing a compressed version of his mini- series would be unworkable, but in May 2. Paramount Pictures- backed bid led by producer Scott Rudin was accepted.[4] The bid prevailed over an offer from Andrew Hauptman's Mission Pictures (backed by Warner Bros.), but the deal fell through before completion. After a second bidding war, Mission acquired the rights for Universal Pictures in December 2.

Director Kevin Macdonald had long been attached to the project, though an early report suggested screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan was set to make the film his directorial debut.[6] Macdonald was a fan of the original mini- series, and said it would be a "hard act to follow". He said it was the blend of fiction and the topical subjects of journalism and politics that attracted him to the project, adding that he wanted to examine the ways in which American and European societies learn what is going on in the world, and to what degree newspapers and the nightly news could be trusted. He said that in an age when people read fewer newspapers, he wanted to explore the necessity for reliable information and the threat to the journalistic profession from collusion between reporters and politicians,[7] and that the film would "[ask] questions of how independent the press is, how much real investigating is conducted, and how much is taken on faith from lobbyists or PR sheets."[8] Macdonald cited the films of the 1. All the President's Men in particular, as major influences, saying that while he was scared of comparisons with the film account of the Watergate scandal, State of Play would primarily be a piece of entertainment.[7]According to Carnahan, the story's core issue (and main factor behind his desire to write the adaptation) was the question it raised about whether a person would be justified in doing "a pretty awful thing" if they were performing great deeds in other areas of their life.[9] Carnahan began working on revisions to his script with Macdonald,[8] but the process was disrupted when Carnahan's daughter fell ill.