Contraband (04/24/2012)

Rated R for violence, pervasive language and brief drug use.

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, J.K. Simmons, Caleb Landry Jones and Lukas Haas

Directed by Baltasar Kormakur (Inhale and Run For Her Life)

It’s not a crime to watch Contraband, but it is a waste of your time.

Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of Contraband, a fast-paced thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked so hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling—full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs—where loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away.

Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best—running contraband—to settle Andy’s debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster), to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills.
Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and sons become their target.

Now I admit the only smuggling I’ve ever done is smuggling a Snickers bar into the theater so I would hardly call myself an expert. But I don’t think you need to be an expert to question a lot of the leaps this movie asked me to make. Like, is it really possible to move all that money in just a few minutes without anyone seeing…I still don’t think so.

The cast includes three of my favorite actors (Wahlberg, Foster and Ribisi), but their performances are mediocre and uninspiring. And Giovanni Ribisi goes a step farther, he’s just annoying – giving us the worst southern accent since Nicholas Cage in ConAir.

There are a few action sequences, but forgettable would be the best way to describe them. Car chases, shootings and a few fights…blah, blah, blah. Director Baltasar Kormakur just gives us more of the same.

SPOILER WARNING:
Finally there is the story; besides being pretty predictable it lacks any real edge. This is supposed to be the gritty, messy world of international smuggling. Instead we get a clean story that fits perfectly in its nice box and then ends with a pretty bow on it…yeah a happy ending.

That was terrible!!

Instead of nice and neat, I was hoping for edgy and gritty…for that I say “Skip It.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
This is no sex or nudity. The R-rating is mostly for violence and language. There are several scenes where people are shot and killed and several fighting scenes. The F-word is used 156 times and well over 75 S-words.

Conversation Starter:

1. In the movie Chris is put in a difficult position. Discuss what happened. (Chris has tried to live his life on the straight and narrow. He makes a decent living owning his own security installation business but when his brother-in-law, Andy, botches a drug deal, he feels his only option is to once again run contraband. Another way to say it is “The ends justify the means”.)


2. What are some examples of “The ends justifying the means” that you have witnessed?


3. What does the Bible have to say about “The ends justify the means”? (Paul answers that one for us in Romans 3:5-8 “But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.) Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world? “But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.

   In other words, if there is something good that you want to achieve and the only way to achieve that is through an evil act, then you should not try to achieve that good objective.)



4. What are some practical ways we can live out this truth? (One of the biggest ways to live out this truth is to live honestly. Micah 6:8 gives us some very good advice. No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.)


5. So what are some “good things” you can do this week the right way?