Published: Friday, January 13, 2012
Lively 'Contraband' delivers crazy action thrills
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Universal Pictures/Patti Perret
Mark Wahlberg (left) and Ben Foster star in "Contraband."
It didn't take too long for the first dumb-but-fun movie of 2012 to arrive: "Contraband" is a Mark Wahlberg vehicle with many ludicrous aspects but quite a bit of lively, headlong appeal.
It's a remake of a film from Iceland called "Reykjavik-Rotterdam," those locations replaced in this case by New Orleans and Panama City. Wahlberg plays a former smuggler, now apparently retired and nestled in the suburbs with his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and kids.
He'd like to stay legit. But when his sniveling brother-in-law gets on the wrong side of a lowlife gangster (Giovanni Ribisi), Wahlberg must work crew on a cargo ship and bring in counterfeit money from Panama in order to settle the ledger with the bad guys.
The film begins as a straight, cornball, this-time-it's-personal crime drama. Wahlberg keeps blathering on about how this is "family," and how he will set things right by pulling off this last illegal job.
But when he and his co-conspirators get to Panama, the movie goes agreeably crazy. Nothing works the way it's supposed to, and with the clock ticking, Wahlberg and boys improvise madly to fine alternate sources of income.
Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur, who produced the original version of this story, doesn't miss many cliches when it comes to dialogue and character. But the plot twists are inspired, and just crazy enough to keep you involved.
Wahlberg's steady, imperturbable presence is also welcome. Ben Foster (late of "The Mechanic" and "The Messenger") plays his best bud, Diego Luna turns up as a Panamanian crime lord and J.K. Simmons is the bellowing captain of the cargo ship.
Giovanni Ribisi goes for broke, in a ridiculous performance as a 1990s-style villain, the kind of tattooed, coke-snorting fiend that should have been killed off permanently by Sam Rockwell's parody of same in "The Sitter." But there he is.
"Contraband" isn't great, but it scratches an itch for a certain kind of jumpy, crazy action picture. It has fewer wisecracks and less glamour than "The Italian Job," and in this case, that's just fine.
"Contraband" (3 stars)
A dumb-but-fun action picture with Mark Wahlberg as a retired smuggler drawn back into a risky New Orleans-to-Panama run. Lots of cliches in the early going, but when the plot arrives in Panama and everything goes haywire, the movie works up some crazy appeal.
Rated: R, for violence, language
Showing: Alderwood, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Cinebarre, Everett Stadium, Oak Tree, Pacific Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall.
It's a remake of a film from Iceland called "Reykjavik-Rotterdam," those locations replaced in this case by New Orleans and Panama City. Wahlberg plays a former smuggler, now apparently retired and nestled in the suburbs with his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and kids.
He'd like to stay legit. But when his sniveling brother-in-law gets on the wrong side of a lowlife gangster (Giovanni Ribisi), Wahlberg must work crew on a cargo ship and bring in counterfeit money from Panama in order to settle the ledger with the bad guys.
The film begins as a straight, cornball, this-time-it's-personal crime drama. Wahlberg keeps blathering on about how this is "family," and how he will set things right by pulling off this last illegal job.
But when he and his co-conspirators get to Panama, the movie goes agreeably crazy. Nothing works the way it's supposed to, and with the clock ticking, Wahlberg and boys improvise madly to fine alternate sources of income.
Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur, who produced the original version of this story, doesn't miss many cliches when it comes to dialogue and character. But the plot twists are inspired, and just crazy enough to keep you involved.
Wahlberg's steady, imperturbable presence is also welcome. Ben Foster (late of "The Mechanic" and "The Messenger") plays his best bud, Diego Luna turns up as a Panamanian crime lord and J.K. Simmons is the bellowing captain of the cargo ship.
Giovanni Ribisi goes for broke, in a ridiculous performance as a 1990s-style villain, the kind of tattooed, coke-snorting fiend that should have been killed off permanently by Sam Rockwell's parody of same in "The Sitter." But there he is.
"Contraband" isn't great, but it scratches an itch for a certain kind of jumpy, crazy action picture. It has fewer wisecracks and less glamour than "The Italian Job," and in this case, that's just fine.
"Contraband" (3 stars)
A dumb-but-fun action picture with Mark Wahlberg as a retired smuggler drawn back into a risky New Orleans-to-Panama run. Lots of cliches in the early going, but when the plot arrives in Panama and everything goes haywire, the movie works up some crazy appeal.
Rated: R, for violence, language
Showing: Alderwood, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Cinebarre, Everett Stadium, Oak Tree, Pacific Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall.
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