Reviewing The Situation - Contraband
Baltasar Kormakur's acclaimed Icelandic thriller, now with added Mark Wahlberg!
Although it likes to think of itself as a hub of creativity, Hollywood is quicker to remake old movies than come up with fresh ideas. For a while now the fashion has been for 'reimagining' European films, the idea apparently being that, since no one's big on book learning anymore, audiences would prefer to see an old movie remade in English than spend an evening reading subtitles.
Contraband is a remake of the Icelandic thriller Reykjavik-Rotterdam. Not only that but it's directed by Baltasar Kormakur who produced and starred in the earlier picture. Kormakur's involvement is quite a shrewd move on behalf of producer-leading man Mark Wahlberg. After all, how bad can Contraband be if it's made by one of the guys who was so heavily involved in the original? And as it turns out, Contraband is perfectly fine. The problem is that it's a retread of a picture that was only fairly decent in the first place.
The Mark formerly known as 'Marky' stars as Chris Farraday, an ex-smuggler who's obliged to revisit his felonious ways when his brother-in-law (X-Men: First Class's Caleb Landry Jones) runs afoul of drugs baron Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi, about as intimidating as a French bulldog). To make things right with Mr Briggs, Chris heads to Panama to pick up a cache of counterfeit dollar bills. And does everything go swimmingly? No, of course not -where would the fun be in that?
Adapted by Aaron Guzikowski, Contraband is a perfectly efficient thriller. Mark Wahlberg is decent - if as inexpressive as ever - as the criminal brought out of retirement for one last job, and Kate Beckinsale is precisely the same as his sister.
The real stars of the show, though, are Ben Foster, who's been carving out a very impressive reputation for himself (excellent in Rampart, he was every bit as good in 3:10 To Yuma and The Messenger), and Lukas Haas, who's come a very long way since playing the goofy Amish kid in Witness.
Since much of Contraband is good, it's a pity it falls slightly short of great. The reason for this, however, isn't due to traditional remake problems, such as the retread inevitably being somewhat less than the original. No, in this case, Kormakur follows Reykjavik-Rotterdam's blueprints to a 'T'. Such care is rare in the remake business and one hopes other filmmakers strive for similar excellence. Reykjavik-Rotterdam was a good rather than a great movie, alas. For Contraband to be a superior picture,
it would have to be based upon a better film.