Play Dirty

Emphasizing brawn over brains, and explosions over elegance, Play Dirty feels like it emerged from a generation-old time capsule.

This noir-infused heist thriller — adapted from a series of Donald Westlake crime novels — offers a familiar throwback compilation of morally ambiguous characters and themes.

However, this saga of redemption, betrayal, deception, greed, and dishonor among thieves from director Shane Black (Iron Man 3) is slick yet uninspired.

The film reveals its far-fetched intentions right from the get-go, with a frenetic yet ridiculous opening chase sequence set partially at a horse-racing track.

That’s where career criminal Parker (Mark Wahlberg) winds up after a chaotic robbery leads to a shootout and double-cross that leaves one of his longtime cohorts dead.

Parker is brazen and impulsive, but also crafty and calculating, and always with a quip at the ready. “I’m good at surviving,” he explains with a sardonic swagger to the widow (Gretchen Mol) of a former partner.

The aftermath of that original job puts Parker in revenge mode, as he becomes entangled with revolutionaries looking to overthrow a corrupt regime in South America, while at the same time chasing a treasure also being sought by a mobster (Tony Shalhoub) with ties to Parker’s past.

His new team includes an actor (LaKeith Stanfield), an art thief (Keegan-Michael Key), and a getaway driver (Rosa Salazar). Of course, Parker must navigate a maze of shifting allegiances and slippery motives, including his own. Nobody can be fully trusted when the financial rewards are so lucrative.

The rapid-fire dialogue in the screenplay features some lively banter to fill in the gaps between the elaborate set pieces and violent outbursts. As the stakes escalate, the central storyline struggles to maintain consistent suspense amid its cliches and logical inconsistencies.

Fortunately, the strong cast brings depth to the parade of unscrupulous rogues and vicious killers trying to cheat the system. Wahlberg is operating within his comfort zone with this sort of mindless action saga, and Stanfield (Get Out) brings loose-cannon energy to an underwritten sidekick role. There’s also an awkward if amusing Mark Cuban cameo.

Generating only modest intrigue, Play Dirty is a stylish but formulaic genre exercise that overall fails to distinguish itself.

Rated R, 127 minutes.