Contraband (2012)

In New Orleans, the former smuggler Chris Faraday (Mark Wahlberg) has regenerated and raised a family of his own with his wife Kate (Kate Beckinsale) and their two children. Chris works in installation of alarms and his father in locked in prison for smuggling.

When his brother-in-law Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) dumps in the sea water 10 pounds of cocaine that he is smuggling for the drug lord Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi) to escape from the custom officers, Chris is forced to pay Andy's debts to protect the youngster and his own family. Chris leaves his wife and children under the protection of his best friend Sebastian Abney (Ben Foster) and travels in a Container Carrier to Panama to bring counterfeit bills and raise the money to pay Briggs. But Briggs and his partner want to force Chris to smuggle drugs and will use his family to reach their objective. Meanwhile Chris is betrayed and gets in trouble in Panama.

"Contraband" is a great action film with an engaging story that combines action, thriller and drama. The cast is excellent with Mark Wahlberg in the lead role and Giovanni Ribisi is almost unrecognizable in the role of a cruel drug dealer. The plot has many twists with betrayals and the cinematography in New Orleans and Panama is wonderful. The ironic conclusion is a sort of contemporary "The Sting". My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Contrabando" ("Contraband")

Fmovies: Don't believe the reviewers, this action packed adventure thrilled and entertained the entire audience. Even got spotty applause which is a rarity except for the most exceptional films.

Great camera work gave exciting glimpses of the Panama Canal, the Canal Zone and the port of New Orleans.

Contraband is a perfect portrayal of the gritty life of crime, and the amoral people who live it. Several exciting twists and turns make the ending a surprise not even my genius plot detective wife could figure out beforehand.

Mark Wahlberg continues to give us one realistic performance after another. Leave the kids at home and go see this action packed thriller.

From the very beginning to the dramatic end, the movie is thrilling. There is not a scene in the movie which drags the story and every bit is to a point. His acting is simple, on point and brilliant as usual and this is one of the best smuggling films i would add to, after Italian job and various others make to a good list. The fact that it brings family, friendship, love, hate, betrayal and the usual bad guy in the film may make it sound all ordinary as most of the films have almost the same characters these days, but the reason i would ask you guys to watch this film is because the touch it has unlike most of them out these days.

I don't think timing is any bit of a problem in this movie and the way in which the scenes unfold is what i think keep you at the edge of your seat through the movie. Anywhoo, A must watch! I loved it personally.

Contraband fmovies. Contraband is a well-made action film with strong acting, good directing, and great cinematography that draws you into New Orleans, Panama, and their freight ship. Mark Walberg plays a man pulled back into his smuggling past to right the wrongs of his naive brother-in-law and protect his family.

Mark Walberg is excellent as the lead character. He is strong in the action scenes on his smuggling trip to Panama , and he is just as good in dramatic scenes calling his wife to help her back home. He is a strong protagonist who is likable and draws a lot of empathy as he tries to fight the bad guys and save his family.

Walberg is supported by a strong cast. Giovannis Ribisi does well as a dirty, corrupt smuggler who terrorizes his family, Ben Foster is excellent as Walberg's recovering addict and alcoholic ex-smuggling parter who struggles to do the right thing. And, Kate Beckinsale is great as Walberg's wife, who also must fight to protect her family.

The director does a great job of building intensity throughout the film. He brings the audience into the smuggling trade in a realistic and believable manner. And, the director effectively engages the audience in the drama and action at three locations simultaneously as the film builds to its resolution back in New Orleans.

Overall, the film is a strong action film. If you dismiss the standard plot and some lapses of reality, you'll enjoy the intense action, strong acting, and great scenery. Catch Contraband in the theaters to enjoy it on the big screen.

Just be careful about smuggling your own candy into the theater.

Directing 6/10- Some unique and intriguing shots, but nothing too rememberable Acting 8.5/10- The acting is the category that without a doubt, stole the show. Solid efforts from the entire cast but the film really benefited from tremendous performances from Ribisi and Landry Jones. Screenplay 4/10- The screenplay is fun no doubt and benefits from decent pacing and a few intense action sequences but the film lacks originality, stealing concepts and at times, lines. Visual effects 5/10- The visual effects were average. I can't completely fault a film for not using unnecessary visuals. Sound effects/Music 5/10- The sound effects were fine, nothing misplaced there. The music was again just OK, sometimes the music was great and mixed well with the action going on but in some the haunting/emotional scenes the music didn't make the scene 'better', which is what it should do. Overall, the film is just another forgettable action film. The film has decent enough story (though cliché), with great acting and some fun action sequences that make the film at least worth a viewing.

If you've seen the trailer, you can already tell that Contraband really doesn't have anything new to offer as a film. It has a typical heist/revenge thriller plot with some thrills and good action sequences. However, Contraband manages to be a slightly better than your typical thriller.

Mark Wahlberg gives a really good performance and Giovanni Ribisi did a really great job as the films over-the-top villain. The film does a great job of getting down the gritty tone and gives the film a realistic feel to it. I also enjoyed how instead of being a straight out action flick, the film actually took time to develop what they had with the plot and show the whole set up of the heist.

For most of it's nearly 2 hour runtime, Contraband kept me entertained for the most part. It still suffers from it's expected flaws. The plot isn't exactly strong and is pretty convoluted and very predictable. I also didn't care for the way the film wrapped up.

Overall, there really isn't a whole lot about to say about Contraband, but I would highly recommend it to someone who is looking for a good rental. If you like Marky Mark, than it's worth a shot.