'Contraband' traffics in IQ-challenged characters, clichés
"Contraband" is one those mediocre, cliché-packed action thrillers that spends 90 minutes slogging through a complex setup just so we can see how the hero - confronted by seemingly impossible hurdles - uses his wits and nerves to cleverly jump over them while turning the tables on the villains.
I admit, there is some joy to be found in how professional smuggler Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) figures out how to get out of a tight spot while sticking it to J.K. Simmons' scene-chewing corrupt cargo boat captain.
Had "Contraband" been directed by a filmmaker with a flair for thrillers, say Steven Soderbergh or Jonathan Demme, Aaron Guzikowski's unseasoned meat-and-potatoes screenplay (based on the movie "Reykjavik-Rotterdam") might have possessed a greater sense of style.
Iceland native Baltasar Kormakur, who made an international name for himself with his 2000 indie "101 Reykjavik," directs "Contraband" with just enough dramatic tension and welcome humor to keep the thriller from rendering audiences comatose.
The story begins around New Orleans with a punky kid named Andy (Caleb Jones) and a pal dumping 10 pounds of cocaine overboard after federal agents board their boat.
The owner of the drugs, a tattooed local dude named Briggs (an over-the-top Giovanni Ribisi, demonstrating why he should play the Scorpio killer if anyone ever remakes "Dirty Harry") kills Andy's pal and demands Andy pay for the dumped contraband.
Andy turns out to be the brother of Kate Farraday (Brit Kate Beckinsale, effecting a facsimile of an American accent). Kate turns out to be married to Chris, a home burglar alarms salesman trying to go straight after a life of criminal smuggling with his best pal Sebastian (Ben Foster), an alcoholic also trying to go straight. Chris tries to help his idiot brother-in-law by talking to idiot-psycho Briggs.
Bad mistake.
The gun-happy Briggs tells Chris that if Andy doesn't fork over payment, Briggs will hunt down Chris' wife and two sons.
That's the setup that forces Chris to reluctantly return to his seedy former occupation. Fortunately, Sebastian agrees to help, and pretty soon they've got their own Mission: Impossible force of guys in place on a cargo ship (run by Simmons' aforementioned Captain Camp) in a scheme to smuggle funny money from Panama to repay Briggs.
Wahlberg is an actor whose characters have never convinced me they possess great depth and intelligence. Yet, he is once again playing a hero who must employ a keen sense of strategy and understanding of human nature to pull off his master plan to save Andy and his family.
Not buying it. In fact, no character in this movie appears to be regularly attending MENSA meetings.
The story of "Contraband" is rife with the usual clichés involving confidantes (Cliché No. 49 on my list of "100 Ways to Get a Bad Review"), in addition to generic dialogue based around the word "trust."
"Trust me!" Andy says to his pal, shortly before he dies.
"Trust me!" Chris says later. Then he says it two more times before he says, "I trust you!" followed by "I trusted you!"
We also get an earful of helpful tough-guy advice, such as "Flying solo isn't for sidekicks!"
One of the funniest moments in "Contraband" (at least at a Tuesday night screening) takes place when cops interrogate Chris about the illegal cargo they suspect he's smuggling into New Orleans. Chris won't crack.
"Do you think we're stupid?" one cop asks. Rhetorically, of course.
We might ask the same question of this movie.
Rhetorically, of course.
“Contraband”
★ ★
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Foster, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, Caleb Jones
Directed by: Baltasar Kormakur
Other: A Universal Pictures release. Rated R for language, violence, drug use. 109 minutes