Director Shane Black hasn’t exactly had the greatest of runs after he delivered the biggest hit of his career, Iron Man 3, in 2013. Although he originally broke onto the scene with his acerbic buddy crime comedies in the 1990s, it was only at the height of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s success that he achieved mainstream success of his own. However, he has directed only two theatrical releases in the last decade: the cult classic box office flop The Nice Guys, and the poorly received and highly controversial reboot The Predator. His latest film, Prime Video’s Play Dirty, opened to poor reviews as well, and it hasn’t exactly managed to deliver the kind of streaming numbers that it should have.
Star Mark Wahlberg has experienced blockbuster success in theaters and at home, with movies such as Transformers: Age of Extinction (over $1 billion worldwide) and Spenser Confidential (among the most-watched Netflix movies ever made). And while he has had a bit of a tough time himself recently, he was able to take his last theatrical release, Flight Risk, to nearly $50 million at the worldwide box office. Films like Flight Risk are usually released directly on streaming these days, and for evidence, look no further than Play Dirty, a crime thriller based on the Parker novels by Donald E. Westlake. The IP was last adapted into a feature film back in 2013, with Jason Statham playing the lead role in the simply titled Parker.
According to FlixPatrol, Play Dirty could hold on to its streaming crown for only around two weeks. It has now been replaced by the third installment of the Culpables trilogy, Culpa Nuestra, aka Our Fault. Play Dirty opened to mixed reviews, and seems to have settled at a 45% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ 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.”
Wahlberg Is Stuck Doing Middling Streaming Films
In his review, Collider’s Nate Richard wrote, “If you watch Play Dirty expecting something on the level of The Nice Guys or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, you will be disappointed. However, the latest action-comedy from Black proves that he’s still capable of delivering an equal parts funny and action-heavy comedy with all the trademarks that make us love him as a filmmaker.” Play Dirty is the latest in a string of streaming movies that Wahlberg has delivered in recent years. After Spenser Confidential, The Union, and The Family Plan, he’ll next star in The Family Plan 2. You can watch Play Dirty at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date
October 1, 2025
Runtime
125 Minutes
Director
Shane Black
Writers
Donald E. Westlake, Shane Black, Anthony Bagarozzi
Producers
James W. Skotchdopole, Jules Daly, Marc Toberoff, Robert Downey Jr.