GENRE: Action, Crime
RATING: 14A for violence, language and brief nudity
RUNTIME: 1 hours and 49 minutes
STARRING: Denzel Washington (Man on Fire, Training Day)
Mark Wahlberg (The Other Guys, Pain & Gain); Bill Paxton (Twister)
DIRECTOR: Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband)
WRITER: Blake Masters (Brotherhood tv series)
PLOT: Undercover agents (who are unaware of each other) botch the infiltration of a drug cartel and pay the consequences.
FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 This film reminded me of old-school Jerry Bruckheimer films like Bad Boys, The Rock, Bad Company and Gone in Sixty Seconds. Get two good actors to play well off each other and shoot lots of stuff up. It maybe formulaic but it’s still pretty entertaining.
2 The film works because of the great chemistry between Washington and Wahlberg. They both get their share of funny lines and action-packed stunts. Wahlberg is pretty hit or miss with me and in this film he does pretty well.
3 After watching this and FX’s The Border, I’m going to steer clear of Mexico/US border cities; maybe forever. They all seem full of crime and corrupt agencies.
4 It’s fun watching Bill Paxton and Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica) play bad guys. They are gleefully intimidating. James Marsden (X-Men, Superman Returns), on the other hand, continues to turn in ‘meh’ performances. He so not dynamic on screen.
5 I was not a fan on Denzel’s facial hair in this film. Just sayin’.
RECOMMENDATION: Wait for DVD or TBS
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Elysium
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