Film Review: Contraband

Contraband (2012)
starring Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale

Watch the trailer for Contraband
 
(source: nogoodflix)

Synopsis

Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of Contraband, a fast-paced thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked so hard to leave behind and the family he'll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling—full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs—where loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away. Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best—running contraband—to settle Andy's debt.   

[Warning! ... for those who haven't seen this movie and don't want to be spoiled...]

I saw Contraband and I was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty good and that I enjoyed watching it. That was quite unexpected! I had not planned to see this film and it wasn't on my Must-See Movies 2012 list to see for this year, but I'm glad I went to see it 'cause I quite liked it and enjoyed watching it at the same time. It doesn't hurt that I like Mark Wahlberg and he's easy on the eyes. Not too mention, I didn't expect to see Kate Beckinsale in this film as I didn't really see the trailer nor did I know what this film was all about other than it was a crime/action/thriller film. Though I've seen a bit of one of its TV spots for it, but it was a quick glimpse and I didn't catch enough clips of it nor saw Kate Beckinsale (until, of course, I saw the poster on display at the theaters, but hardly noticed it was her and only thought that, the woman looked like her, lol) on it, just the title and that Mark Wahlberg is the star of it. That was all I knew, which was good because it made it more interesting seeing the film as I didn't know what it was exactly about and I didn't know what was going on. I like that about a movie where it's mysterious and didn't know what to expect, and keeps you guessing on what's gonna happen next.  Though I kind of figured out that the ending will be predictable, but didn't seemed to as it was done very well in this film.

Leading up towards the end, were a few twist and turns that got me immersed watching the turning point especially when Kate Beckinsale's character Kate Farraday (married to Mark Wahlberg's character Chris Farraday) got pushed and smashed her head to a mirror where blood dripped to her face! Then, the next scene or two following her ordeal with one Giovanni Ribisi's ruthless character Tim Briggs, she got knocked down even worse by her husband's best friend Sebastian, who not only betrayed her husband, but hit her...again, she got hit on the head (ouch! again, poor woman!) and lay unconscious, her head bleeding (worst) and lying presumed dead! Whoa! Kate's character went through so much torture in this film especially in a few surprising scenes. She was helpless and defenseless at the same time. You're left thinking in one of her most tragic scenes), OMG! Is she dead! Oh, no, she can't be...get up and do something...otherwise, you better run Sebastian 'cause Chris is coming to get you and will kill you like he said he would on the phone, lol.

Wow, those were two surprising climactic scenes I did not see coming, for sure. Another was when Sebastian (Ben Foster) had Kate's body in a plastic bag and dumped it at a place you didn't expect he would do so (somewhere at his construction company)!!! I thought he was gonna dumped her at a lake or river nearby, but boy, I was wrong! That was freakin sick, crazy, and scary (all at the same time) what Sebastian did (but then, again, he was high on drugs, so...) to Kate especially that she looked to be still alive and her hand was moving or something! Thankfully, Chris was desperately looking for her and calling her name and her cell phone...while Sebastian stayed still, quiet and scared...lol. Those were great scenes...loved the suspense and the actors performed those scenes very well!

Overall, I thought Contraband was a very good movie! Though the story has been done before in other films, it was a very good (visually) and very well-written story here. Great casting and it doesn't hurt that they were all pretty good and familiar actors from Mark Wahlberg to Kate Beckinsale to Giovanni Ribisi to Ben Foster. It was fast paced, with lots of action, suspense, drama, with a few interesting twist and turns, and humor to keep you watching and entertained at the same time. Mark was pretty good as Chris Farraday, a former smuggler turned businessman (he has his own Farraday security system business) with a beautiful wife, Kate Farraday, and two sons, and a young brother-in-law that got himself into trouble prompting Farraday to protect him and his family from his past dealings that his brother-in-law Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) got them into trouble with in the first place. The lovely Kate Beckinsale played Kate Farraday, Chris' wife and mother of their two sons. Interesting she played a complete opposite of her kick-ass vampire character Selene from her Underworld (which I'm going to see next...) films as she played a regular wife and mother (who should take a self-defense class after the ordeal she had been through) in this film. The rest of the cast were all pretty good including Lucas Haas (nice to see him in this film...it's been a while since I last saw a movie with him on it). I  recommend you see this film, if you haven't already! It's a great, fun crime/action/suspense thriller you'll enjoy watching and will have you on the edge of your seat especially the unexpected twists and turns towards the end. Go see it!

My Contraband film rating: (9.5/10; A)