Parker is somewhat of a departure from Jason Statham's usual style of action movie. Based upon the character created by author Richard Stark (AKA Donald E. Westlake), Parker has an emphasis on plot and old school hard-boiled dialogue, over fights and mayhem. Although those elements are present in the film, they do sit rather awkwardly with the modern action idiom. Director Taylor Hackford seems to struggle in finding the right style for Parker and the indecision results in a very uneven movie. However, it should be noted that bringing this particular character to the screen has proven difficult in the past, although John Boorman successfully achieved this with Point Blank, starring Lee Marvin.