Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Nice Guys) has been making action buddy comedies for nearly four decades, but with Play Dirty, his signature template feels a bit creaky.

Pairing Mark Wahlberg and LaKeith Stanfield in a zigzagging crime thriller based on Donald E. Westlake’s “Parker” novels, the writer/director’s straight-to-Prime Video feature, premiering Oct. 1, boasts his trademark banter but so much arrhythmic plotting and digital insanity that it never settles into a comfortable groove. While its humor often sticks, its mayhem fails to land.

As Westlake’s ruthless thief, Wahlberg affects a single stern glance that resonates far less menacingly—or compellingly—than prior Parker performances by Lee Marvin (Point Blank) and Mel Gibson (Payback), and his deadpan

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