#Contraband mark wahlberg movie

Still, forgettable movies are rarely bad movies, and Contraband has a diverting kick once its plot finally ambles into motion.

Perhaps having Kormakur aboard promised some continuity - because surely what works for Icelandic audiences will work for American ones, too - but his quirky sensibility gets lost in the rigors of a large-scale thriller. Those who frequent international film festivals might recognize Kormakur as the director of such eccentric little slot-fillers as 101 Reykjavik, The Sea and Jar City, and he steps behind the camera again here on a much larger production. In another example of Hollywood's desperation to snap up any successful properties, no matter how marginal, Contraband is an Americanized version of Reykjavik-Rotterdam, a 2008 Icelandic hit starring Baltasar Kormakur.

#Contraband mark wahlberg movie

You've seen this movie before, even if you haven't seen this movie specifically. Its video box (or Netflix JPEG) will no doubt have its appeals - Wahlberg's soft-on-the-inside glare, scruffy men with guns, the title font of an '80s Sylvester Stallone vehicle - but don't be fooled. There are good movies, there are bad movies, and then there are movies that your parents rent two or three times before realizing 20 minutes in that they've seen them before.Ĭontraband, the mediocre new Mark Wahlberg thriller, falls squarely in the latter category - not because it's risible by any means, but because nothing about it lingers, not even the sulfuric stench of a bum scene or a particularly hammy performance.