Movie Review: Contraband

A scene from 'Contraband'. Courtesy Universal Pictures.

Similar to the upcoming film Man on a Ledge, Contraband feels like it’s trying hard to be a cool ‘70s crime-drama when in reality it’s just a very average movie where you’ll either enjoy the brain drain and exit a happy viewer or fall into a deep sleep and get drool all over your bucket of popcorn.

Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) is an ex-smuggler who has settled down with his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and their two children and seems quite content with his low-key lifestyle and has no interest in going back to his old ways. That all changes when his brother-in-law Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) gets into trouble smuggling drugs and Chris has no choice but to settle the debt by doing a run or risk having the dealer (Giovanni Ribisi) come after him and his family next.

Based on the 2008 Icelandic film Reykjavik-Rotterdam and directed by Baltasar Kormákur (who starred in the original), Contraband is a gritty-looking movie that should have spewed edginess. Sadly, Kormákur seems to have toned it down for North American audiences and added more goofiness than the film required. If it was done along the lines of Martin Scorsese’s The Departed it could have been something amazing. Instead, it lacks anything worth getting excited over and is easily forgettable.

The biggest issue I had with the film were the performances, especially Wahlberg’s. I never once believed this guy lived a crazy life smuggling anything other than socks down his pants. He is just so lifeless and boring to watch it’s painful. Ben Foster, who plays Chris’ best friend and ex-partner-in-crime, also seems to phone it in here, and Beckinsale’s role might as well have gone to an unknown actress as she’s completely wasted.

The good news is that Ribisi kills it and makes up for the rest of the cast. He takes his role to Nic Cage territory and is so off the rails it’s almost worth watching for him alone. There’s also a very indie film vibe to the production at times that I wish they used to their advantage more often.

Contraband is not terrible and will probably be enjoyed by middle-aged men for years to come. I’d probably have enjoyed it more if I saw it on my couch than I did at the theatre, too. If I had paid to see it though I’d be extremely disappointed.

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