Contraband

Cool concept with lots of twists and tension.

I wanted to see Contraband before it came out, but I had pretty much shelved it until I saw Roeper's review. He said it was good, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I really liked it. It was hard to get into at first, though. That camerawork was driving me crazy. Totally unnecessary. Didn't add anything. What was the point? Either it stopped halfway through, or I just got used to it, because I didn't notice it as much after that.

The movie as a whole didn't seem like anything special until they were on the ship. Then it was all "oh, this is different. We're on a ship." And things started happening. I think they really got my attention when the ship crashed.

At first I didn't like the whole "we have to rob an armored truck now" thing. It seemed like an empty plot convention. But once all the Panamanians died, I was pretty blown away. Finding out what was going on with Ben Foster's character and Briggs was a great surprise, too.

I don't know how I feel about Beckinsale's performance. I feel like she wasn't that great. But probably mostly because she didn't have a lot to work with. I was interested in the side characters on the boat, but I feel like they could've done more with them. I didn't like how over-the-top happy the ending was. Okay, Briggs got arrested and the gang got the Panamanian money, but I don't think we need the Pollock on top of all of that, too. It's just too much.

I really enjoyed the movie, though. I can't not give it 4 stars, despite the places where it was lacking. Roeper said Ribisi (Briggs) gave a great performance, and I agree. Wahlberg's a great actor, too. I liked how adept his character was at operating in that world. He was always quick to react, physically and mentally.

I liked that we didn't see what a big guy Farraday's father was until the scene at the end. That was a solid moment. You would need a lot of luck to pull some of that stuff off, but I don't think it's so impossible that you can't go with it.

Overall, there's lots of twists, lots of tension; it's a good time.