Contraband is the Baltasar Kormakur directed remake of the Icelandic film Reykjavik-Rotterdam, of which he starred in. It features Mark Wahlberg as the take-no-crap former smuggler Chris Farrady, a man whose knowhow and skills in that field made him legendary amongst his New Orleans bretheren. Chris is clean now though, with two boys and his wife Kate (Kate Beckinsale) happily by his side. Things are generally pretty damn peachy for Chris. His best friends are getting married (Lukas Haas) or finally getting sober (Ben Foster).
Unfortunately, Kate’s little brother Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) is still in the law breaking game, having recently ditched ten-pounds of cocaine off a freighter and garnering the wrath of local nasty Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi). Needing seven-hundred-thousand dollars in two weeks to cover the losses in order to save Andy’s life – and his own family’s thereafter – Chris has no choice but to do what he does best once more.
At its core, Contraband isn’t too bad. The cast is well chosen, with Wahlberg getting to play off an ensemble, which is always his strong suit. There’s a nice kinship with Foster formed and he breezily plots his moves with an array of buddies. Ribisi chews on scenery like a madman, but it’s quality gnawing, with an accent that sounds like a redneck gasping for his last breath with each word.
Kormakur stages the big set pieces well, most of which occur in Panama as Chris’s crew race against time to get a big wad of uncut cash onboard. They pop with a nice visual kick. Shooting in digital, the movie sports a nice grain that gives Contraband some rougher edges. Kormakur does a nice job of establishing the surroundings of these scenes, even if the editing leans on the quick and chaotic lever. The action beats aren’t anything outstanding, yet they work as B- grade Michael Mann.
It’s just too bad the film’s tonally deaf. Working from an Aaron Guzikowski script, the man’s first, Kormakur’s movie can’t decide whether to be a nasty, no nonsense look at this underbelly of the world, or a cool, slick Fast and the Furious style bit of Hollywood. The picture uncomfortably collides brutality (Beckinsale’s character gets repeatedly assaulted) with quip-y one-liners and an aura of “boys will be boys.” The glare of the mismatch intensifies in the final act, as the story grows increasingly darker and Wahlberg’s Chris becomes equally unworldly in his calculative efforts.
This congeals into something altogether disposable. Despite the compelling elements, it’s merely a passable two hours, almost more interesting for what it does wrong than what it does right.
Contraband opens wide all across Seattle today.
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