Movie contraband movie#
Movie contraband pro#

The caper itself is only about two notches more clever than the one in “Tower Heist” (that titular crime felt like it was pieced together on the fly), the action scenes aren’t particularly interesting, and the characters are all flat and uninteresting.

Movie contraband movie#

Kormakur set out to make a thriller with a semblance of a real-life backdrop and succeeded up to a point, but the grit and pulp are like oil and water here.Directed by Baltasar Kormákur (who played the lead role in “Reykjavik-Rotterdam,” of which this movie is a remake), “Contraband” follows the gone-legit Chris Farraday (Wahlberg), who’s forced back in the smuggling game after the weaselly brother of his wife Kate ( Kate Beckinsale) gets into trouble with creepy criminal Tim Briggs ( Giovanni Ribisi, rocking a risible Cajun accent).

At the same time, however, the images’ grubby honesty not only keep the film’s temperature on the low side, but also make the overt manipulations of the story appear even more artificial than they might have otherwise. Kormakur’s unvarnished style on the one hand comes as a welcome change from both the slicker Hollywood norm and the more mannered antics of some young directors. Despite the Gulf of Mexico settings, the new film, which is largely set at night, retains a certain Nordic gloom the visual scheme worked out with cinematographer Barry Ackroyd is dominated by glum grays and blues, although the camerawork remains alert and alive to the alarming events that punctuate the characters’ lives with all-too-frequent regularity. VIDEO: Mark Wahlberg Plays a Father on a Mission in ‘Contraband’ TrailerĬontraband is based on a little-seen 2008 Icelandic suspenser called Reykjavik-Rotterdam written by Arnaldur Indridason and Oskar Jonasson, director by the latter and produced by and starring Kormakur, whose debut feature, the madly original Reykjavik 101, arguably remains his best film.

On top of it all, what Chris pulls off ashore is far too involved to have fit into the very short period of time before the ship is due to sail again a sense of urgency is one thing, but winding the clock too tightly can break the spring, which more or less happens here.īack home, more dramaturgic problems await, as old ghosts come back to haunt Chris’s best friend Sebastian ( Ben Foster), who’s supposed to be looking after his pal’s wife and two boys but does so in a way that would tick off most husbands. After a meeting with a drug lord ( Diego Luna) goes awry, the Americans’ escape seems unconvincingly easy, just as the motivating incident is outlandishly coincidental. It is also here, however, where the plotting of first-time screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski and the sequence timing worked out by director Baltasar Kormakur get more than a little hairy, not to mention overly convenient. Panama is seldom seen in major films, so sequences featuring the canal, the soaring new skyline and reeking slums impart welcome color and visual interest. With help of old accomplices, Chris sets everything in place for the return trip, which will involve hiding the sheets of counterfeit bills from the captain as well as from customs authorities. Simmons) with less than sweet feelings for Chris’s notorious dad.

Movie contraband pro#

With best pal Danny ( Lukas Haas) and the questionable Andy, who’s older sister Kate ( Kate Beckinsale) is Chris’s wife, the old pro signs on to a vessel commanded by a stern captain (an amusing G.K. This one, too, will involve a smuggling operation aboard a transport ship, this one bound for Panama, where Chris arranges top pick up a massive amount of counterfeit American currency.

Briggs demands instant satisfaction for the debt, so threateningly so that Chris realizes he has no choice but to pull a job himself, and quick. Unfortunately, the lost stash was intended for Tim Briggs, a crazed, trigger-happy lunatic played by Giovanni Ribisi in such a wigged-out manner that it suggests the actor is advertising himself for any role (if there is any) Nicolas Cage declines. PHOTOS: 20 Best and Worst Music to Movie Crossovers