Contraband

This generic action adventure about high-seas smuggling is a remake of the 2008 Icelandic thriller Reykajavik-Rotterdam, which starred Contraband's director, Baltasar Kormakur. Legendary New Orleans smuggler Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) has abandoned an international life of crime to become a Louisiana home-security contractor, settling into middle-class domesticity with his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and two young sons. But at a family wedding, Chris finds out that his punk brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botched a drug deal by dumping a cargo of cocaine in advance of a customs raid and is now terrified of his ruthless, tattooed gangster boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), because he owes him $700,000. So cocky Chris decides to pull a last job, running a pallet stacked with counterfeit bills from a distant barrio in Panama City to New Orleans to settle Andy's debt, assembling a crew that includes his hot-head buddy (Ben Foster) and their dimwitted pal (Lukas Haas). But the contraband cargo arouses the suspicion of the container ship's blustering Captain Camp (J.K. Simmons), who was none too fond of Chris's father, and there's mounting danger to Chris's family from treacherous drug runners, lethal hit men, and the police. Unfortunately, Contraband suffers from a contrived, predictable plot, serving up formulaic familiarity that cannot be disguised by the jerky, handheld camerawork. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director/producer Balthasar Kormákur and producer Evan Hayes, a “making-of” featurette (17 min.), the “Reality Factor” on the stunts (8 min.), deleted scenes (7 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a picture-in-picture track with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, the BD-Live function, and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a so-so thriller.] (S. Granger)