Contraband
If you enjoy seeing modern action stars like Wahlberg or Jason Statham in pulpy B-movie flicks, then Contraband will be a suitable distraction.
Everything aboutContrabandcan comfortably be add up in the word " medium . " There ’s nothing too great about this bacillus - movie action at law / rip-off motion picture , but nothing too wicked about it , either . While it is overly challenging in some respect , it at last lands in that middle basis of mindless ( and instantly forgettable ) genre amusement , despite its shortcoming .
Mark Wahlberg channels his common soft - spoken tough guy cable screen character as Chris Farraday , a former maestro contrabandist who has sink down into a law - abiding living as a working pappa and love husband to his gorgeous wife , Kate ( Kate Beckinsale ) . When Kate ’s little brother Andy ( Caleb Landry Jones ) is forced to dump a shipment of cocaine during a mellow - post smuggling run , he lands himself , Chris , and Kate on the hook of local toughie Tim Briggs ( Giovanni Ribisi ) .
Chris ' attempt to negociate with Briggs is … less than successful , leaving him just two weeks to get back into the smuggling game and come up with the money owed to Briggs . With service from his sound buddy Sebastian ( Ben Foster ) , Chris round down up a little gang of deckhands to assist him rend off a scheme involving imitative bill waiting to be smuggle out of Panama . Of of course things do n’t go as plan , and there are a few of the standard heist picture turn of events and double - crosses that leave Chris and Co. in tight spot and facing long betting odds .
For a glorify B - flick , Contrabandhas an telling batting order of actors . Foster and Ribisi are accomplished character acting talents , and their respective characters are definite standouts ( specially Ribisi ’s high up - pitched drawling punk ) . Caleb Landry Jones and Luke Haas are both young actors gaining notice , though they ’re mostly windowpane dressing here ; Kate Beckinsale , on the other helping hand , is almosttoohot to be convincing as the blue - collar Mrs. of a seasoned criminal . At this compass point most citizenry know whether they wish Mark Wahlberg ’s bad boy persona or not , and he ’s definitely play to type in this picture . Other intimate faces like J.K. Simmons ( Spider - Man ) , Diego Luna ( Y Tu Mama Tambien ) andSons of Anarchystar William Lucking all pop up here and there for some abbreviated ( but welcome ) spot roles .
Contrabandis , in fact , the American remake of the Icelandic filmReykjavik - Rotterdam , and while I have n’t regard that motion picture to recognize for sure , the hand for this American adaptation ( adapted by Aaron Guzikowski ) seek to do too much with some of the subplots and supporting character - which would ’ve been more of a pronounced beguilement if director Baltasar Kormakur ( who produced the Icelandic version ) and his squad of editor in chief had n’t sheer them down to size of it .
The first enactment ofContrabandis awkwardly clipped - almost as if Kormakur had shot long conniption but had to truncate them to keep thing moving ( a choice I wholeheartedly support ) . The main narrative unfolds at a nice tempo without dragging too much - though , as put forward , the consequence of subplot developing afterwards in the film are often inept , unconnected , and never feel effective or necessary .
The other odd thing about the film is that it does n’t really tender a whole sight of any one component : for an action film , there ’s very littleaction(basically one shootout / chase sequence ) , and for a heist flick , it ’s not peculiarly imaginative or clever in its twirl and surprises ( most of them you could see coming path in advance ) . The secret plan is reasonably much a standard full point A to show vitamin B complex to charge atomic number 6 progression , while we watch Wahlberg and his blue - dog collar cohort breeze through the complicated process of international smuggling with such informality that it ’s intemperate to suspend your mental rejection for too long . Look for plot holes with any kind of critical eye and you will find many .
However , for all its averageness , most of the audience concerned inContrabandwill in all probability be satisfied with what the plastic film deliver : Mark Wahlberg looking problematic , act tough , and delivering choice one - lining like " You think you ’re the only guy wire with a gun ? " or " I ’m come for you ! " Even though some of the subplots force into the 2d and third acts venture into darker and more serious striking dominion , gratefully they are n’t so much of a puff as to keep the film from end on a playfulness ( if not entirely plausible ) note .
All things consider , if you enjoy project innovative military action stars like Wahlberg or Jason Statham in pulpy B - movie flicks , thenContrabandwill be a suited distraction . Those with more discerning action picture show palates should belike waitress to catch this one on home video or basic cable television .
Kate Beckinsale in ‘Contraband’
Contrabandis now playing in theaters everywhere .
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squeeze back into the Earth of smuggling to protect his family , a former criminal must navigate a perilous web of drug lord and corrupt officials . His charge takes him from New Orleans to Panama and back as he races against time to prevent tragedy .
Mark Wahlberg and Giovanni Ribisi in ‘Contraband’
