Play Dirty
Not to be confused with the upcoming Shane Black film of the same name, Play Dirty stars Theo Rossi as corrupt Police Detective Frank Grady about to be indicted by Internal Affairs for his partnership with a local crime boss (Ron Perlman). In order to run, Frank needs the money he's owed. However, Murray (Perlman) offers a condition of only paying out once Frank takes out Murray's various competition all in one night. However, what's set up as a near-impossible task turns out to be relatively easy for Frank who makes it through most of the night unscathed (with his only wound coming late in the film) to tell his story to a couple of tweakers.
Frank's crazy night is further complicated by an old friend (Thomas Q. Jones) with mixed motivations and Murray's girl (Teresa Celeste), who Frank has been stepping out with, needing to look out for herself when Murray and Frank's partnership dissolves.
The main trouble with Play Dirty, which is a poor man's John Wick in offering a basic B-movie throwaway action-thriller sending our piece-of-shit protagonist to complete an impossible task in a single night, is the film's meager budget with limited money for production, sets, and proper lighting which means budget enough for some sequences but others obviously shot on the cheap. Director Tom DeNucci does what he can make up for this as much as possible with B-roll and making the most of a couple of key locations such as Murray's office, but the results are hit-and-miss at best.
Watch the trailer- Title: Play Dirty (2025)
- IMDb: link
