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Movie Review: “Contraband” (-)

January 17, 2012

         As I left the theater, I heard a woman say to her companion, “That was so painful.” Indeed it was.
 
         The actors are very professional and the energy level of the movie is extremely high. My eyes were riveted to the screen during the many sequences filled with criminality, action and shootouts. Nevertheless, the dialogue is ridiculous and overall the film is not worth seeing. The story could have had a rational plot but instead contains a hodgepodge of shoot ‘em up, drug-trade scenes. In this case, drugs and counterfeit American money are brought by cargo ship into the U.S. from Panama. 
 
         The movie opens with interesting shots of New Orleans. Countless vehicles and police cars arrive on the scene of a robbery in a shipyard where bullets are flying everywhere. The central figure is Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) who was once a drug smuggler. He now works as a security guard, is married to Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and has two children.
 
         Chris is drawn back into the crime scene because his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), is in trouble. Andy lost $700,000 in drugs belonging to a drug mob led by a vicious killer, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi). To save Andy, Chris must replace the drugs which takes him to Panama. Chris asks his best friend Sebastian (Ben Foster) to take care of Kate while he is gone. Sebastian tries to rape Kate, leading to an unbelievable and ridiculous finale in the film.
 
         I could go on and on about the outrageous episodes in the movie, but it isn’t worth your or my time. I usually enjoy violent films and the shedding of blood on the screen, but this picture should be avoided, unless you are a masochist and enjoy your own pain.
 
         Mark Wahlberg is a terrific actor.  Known in his earlier years as Marky Mark, he was a tough adolescent, rap singer, and clothing model who went on to make millions as an actor and producer. He is now a married man with children.  I enjoyed meeting him years ago on the set of “We Own the Night,” in which I played myself and he starred along with Joaquin Phoenix and Robert Duvall. Someone should make a film about Wahlberg’s life. That would be an interesting movie.