Hey Contraband, pull back the damn camera!
By the end of the 109 minutes, the only thing one will learn from this sloppy action flick is how many blackheads each of the cast members have, and that Mark Wahlberg is in need of a manicure.
In what was a forced marriage between something like The Italian Job and last year’s Killer Elite, turns out to be nothing more than grimy filmmaking. Literally. The two guys (Giovanni Ribisi & Ben Foster) who actually have something to offer audiences, with their respective character personas, are criminally under-used and handcuffed to quick-hitting scenes complete with just a few lines of dialogue. A blonde Kate Beckinsale is in a role that any average actress could have played, and Wahlberg’s balance within his character is disturbingly off. In fairness to Wahlberg, part of that is due to the poor screenplay that offers little intelligence thanks to a shanty cut in the editing room.
Shot in grainy near documentary style, this script – which seems to have many of the performers ad lib their lines – wants to show cleverness within their gritty story, yet forgets to show their clever work. Remember in high school math, where even if you got the right answer, you still had to show how you arrived there? Well, if yours truly is playing math teacher, this “student” would be held back without a doubt. In fact, they deserve to be demoted a grade. None of the character behavior makes any sense; there’s no hint of a backstory to why Wahlberg’s “Chris” was such a respected smuggler. The story just breezes through without any worries. And this is perplexing since there are only a couple of action sequences that can snag an audience’s attention. Come to think of it, the movie is reminiscent of one giant trailer.
Half of this takes place on a cargo ship, as Wahlberg is forced to come out of retirement and magically summon up his old running buddies (who are also given zilch to do) to help him pull off what should be a routine smuggle. This occurs because he reluctantly has to save his wife’s (Beckinsale) younger brother (Caleb Landry Jones) who botched a deal with the new “king” of smuggling (Ribisi). Naturally, there are complications with custom officers and a grumpy captain (J.K. Simmons); who is aware of Wahlberg’s past, yet lets him play around his ship despite the fact. When something seems off, the script conveniently sees Wahlberg overcome any obstacle (gun fights with 3rd world s.w.a.t. teams, search of the ship, etc.). There isn’t an ounce of drama save for one scene about halfway through. Ironically, the one time the camera allows you to take in the surroundings.
Then there’s moments when Wahlberg is using the force or something and figures out things that he shouldn’t. And let’s just say the prototypical eye-roll should be had by all audiences when the carpet cleaning vacuum shows up at the end. In the effort not to give spoilers, hopefully you’ll understand my anger as this script just chooses to insult your intelligence. Suspending disbelief is one thing, but when the director doesn’t have a clue what kind of product he is sculpting, it’s hard to get behind anything he is doing.
One thing that can numb the pain of this just a little bit, at least the 2nd half of this feature has a decent body count for the action junkies.
Overall, Contraband sinks right from the start. This wouldn’t even been passable by ‘80’s action movie standards. While there are scenes here and there that reel you in, the laziness within the writing and directing will have you wanting to get deported from the theater.
Contraband is rated R and opens in the Tampa Bay market today.
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