CONTRABAND FILM MOVIE
CONTRABAND FILM PRO

VIDEO: Mark Wahlberg Plays a Father on a Mission in вЂContrabandвЂ™ TrailerД¬ontraband 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.Д«ack home, more dramaturgic problems await, as old ghosts come back to haunt ChrisвЂ™s best friend Sebastian ( Ben Foster), whoвЂ™s supposed to be looking after his palвЂ™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 AmericansвЂ™ 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 ChrisвЂ™s notorious dad.

CONTRABAND FILM PRO

With best pal Danny ( Lukas Haas) and the questionable Andy, whoвЂ™s older sister Kate ( Kate Beckinsale) is ChrisвЂ™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.

CONTRABAND FILM MOVIE

And so it is for Chris, whoвЂ™s forced back into his old criminal ways to save his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), from a local gangster, Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi, greased and tattooed).PHOTOS: 20 Best and Worst Music to Movie Crossovers But you know how it is in the movies: Just when a guy thinks heвЂ™s out, they pull him back in. WahlbergвЂ™s smuggler, Chris Farraday, has gone legitimate for the sake of his family and now works in security. He does soon enough, though, where he starts busily putting the numerous pieces into place. Kormakur initially shoots New Orleans, the camera tracing circles in the night sky, it looks as if he didnвЂ™t want to come down to earth. (It rarely does.) If anything, the filmвЂ™s adherence to implausibility as a defining narrative principle - a reliably winning Mark Wahlberg plays a New Orleans super-smuggler on a fast boat to Panama who faces a wolf, an armored truck and a drip painting - is part of its low-key kick, as is the director Baltasar KormakurвЂ™s fondness for industrial landscapes.ДЇrom the way Mr. ThatвЂ™s too bad because the story doesnвЂ™t matter. The absurdity of the story in the largely thrill-free thriller вЂњContraband,вЂќ its hairpin twists and outrageous coincidences, may keep even hungry action fans away.

Contraband film