Contraband Review

Hidden amongst the many more highly anticipated action movies of the year, ‘’Contraband’’ slips in under the radar starring Mark Wahlberg as a professional smuggler who takes up a final job to keep his family safe. While the premise has exceeded expectations, the film falls somewhat short of spring blockbuster status.

This task taken up by Chris Farraday involves gaining and smuggling enough money to pay off a ruthless crime boss (played by Giovanni Ribisi) for a failed drug operation. Of course this means Farraday’s new family is put in both great danger and pressure as he attempts to fix his problems created by getting involved with the wrong people. If you’ve seen movies like Mission Impossible you’ll already know how this plot turns out, though the movie does put in a double crossing twist or two it won’t shake the impression that you’ve seen this before. ‘’Contraband’’ makes an admirable attempt at using the smuggler back story to give this well used plot a less than derivative direction but the lack of emotion or depth in many of the film’s cast keeps it from drawing you in for long.

The film’s characters are quite underwhelming for the most part, rarely is there any kind of chemistry happening between Wahlberg and Bekinsale’s character’s apart from the occasional kiss and hug, which may turn some audiences off to the stunted desperation shown as Chris attempts to save his wife. The villains fare better, with Ribisi’s role as Tim Briggs being suitably sinister and ruthless in the manner he toys with Chris’s wife and brutally threatens Farraday over the phone. He stands out as the movie’s main antagonist, despite the fact he lacks the physical power to beat his foes in a fight. As ruthless as he can be in getting what he wants, even Briggs can be outsmarted as proven by a humorous scene where Chris tricks his enemy into visiting a house in which he fitted security measures, which ends up being the highlight of the film.

While the lack of character depth or innovation certainly damages the film’s immersion, it does feature some noteworthy moments that build the tension; namely when Chris must avoid the searches of both the law and a corrupt ship captain, tipped off over Farraday’s treachery. These scenes among a few others serve as the largest source of entertainment for the flick. The ending also provides a good sense of closure, not hurrying to set up a sequel but instead tying up the stories for each character effectively. Unfortunately this is counter balanced by little action sequences. Aside from the brilliantly filmed shootout between Mexican cartel forces and the local police force, there’s a slim supply of jaw dropping moments, which ends up reinforcing the fact that ‘’Contraband’’ follows familiar territory. Another issue I had personally was the frequent and gratuitous use of foul language. The characters do inhabit a criminal underworld but I did find it baffling that Wahlberg persists in using this language through the whole movie, even in front of his character’s children which makes him feel slightly flat as a family man. It seemed that the acting crew was blurting out the f word every now and then just to warrant the 15 rating from the BBFC.

‘’Contraband’’ does have some shortcomings but if you’re after a more tense and focused thriller in the cinema than the more popular loud action flicks and can stomach some weak characters then you’ll find a somewhat entertaining movie, though it’s probably doomed to rest in the shadows of the more successful members of the genre this year.

Rating: 3/5 Stars