Contraband
con·tra·band/ˈkäntrəˌband/
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Yup, as the film title suggests it is about smuggling! Not a really unique premise, but it is a rather cool movie with some rather ingenious 'ideas' on how (really) good smugglers do their work.
Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg, looking quite buff here) is a smuggler-turned-legit alarm installer with a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) and two cute boys. Back in the day, he was a very well-known smuggler who manages to pull off the coolest smuggles from different places. His brother-in-law wasn't that good though and botches a 'run', forcing Chris to 'go back' into smuggling for one last time before the henchmen get to his wife and kids.
Mark Wahlberg does quite a good job as the tough, previously-a-smuggler guy who dotes on his family a lot. He makes it quite believable that his character is a very street smart guy who has turned over a new leaf. Can't say the same thing about Kate Beckinsale though, as I feel the film makers are just using her famous name to pull in audiences. Her character is a little pointless as all she does is just be pretty or get beaten up by thugs to threaten Chris. A little sad, coz she is quite a good actress.
While the story is nothing much to shout about (It does start off rather slow as the characters are introduced), the action pretty much makes up for it...especially when Chris puts his plans into action. There are quite a few cool ideas on how to hide stuff in a confined space...though I'm not too sure if they have been actually used before, but cool ideas nonetheless. Think 'Prison Break' cool, except that they use those ideas for smuggling! And while there are some parts where it feels a little TOO easy for the characters to get to where they are, it is still rather interesting as the pace picks up exponentially towards the end. There are car chases, explosions, shootings, the works! My favorite scene would probably be the last few minutes of the film, where they really bring a new perspective to the term 'a sea full of money'! Watch it and you'll get what I mean. *grins*
All in all, it is quite a clever little movie....though not a big blockbuster like the big titles coming out this summer, it does deliver enough wit, action, and humor to keep your attention until the very end. Not bad to start off a new year *wink*
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