The Contractor Movie Review: A muddled action thriller

A still from The Contractor

Film: The Contractor

Cast: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gillian Jacobs, Eddie Marsan, Kiefer Sutherland, Florian Munteanu, Tait Fletcher, Fares Fares

Dir: Tarik Saleh

Rating: 2/5

Runtime: 103 mins.

Chris Pine best known and remembered for his Jack Ryan cinema avatar, stars in this film product that hopes to cash-in on his erstwhile glory days. This film has a promising enough storyline. Pine plays Special Forces Sergeant James Harper, an elite agent discharged from the U.S. army because of a permanent injury, who finds himself in a catch-22 situation. He can't find a civilian job and his wife, Brianne's (Gillian Jacobs) efforts at paying the ever piling bills fails to make much of a dent on their debt burden. So when his former squad member, good friend Mike (Ben Foster) approaches him with an off-the-books proposal involving another veteran, Rusty Jennings (Kiefer Sutherland), he thinks it's a God send. The money is good, the jobs are quick, but it's a mercenary turn that will call into question his own personal ethics and value system. The stage is set well for a weighty drama but the treatment is such that the action takes centre-stage while the weightiness is lost in the ensuing cat and mouse clash of flashy fire power. The promise is never fulfilled as the actors mechanically load up the testosterone while the writing takes a hike into stealth action wonderland.

Harper is a man of few words. There's not much talk you can get out of him here. We have to be satisfied with Pine's deep stares and thoughtful meanderings best exemplified in the opening sequence. We see a pastor leading his congregation (consisting largely of Soldiers, ex-soldiers and their families), in a prayer for the Army Special Forces headquartered in nearby Fort Bragg. Seated among them, Harper, his thoughts drifting away from the sermon at hand, is brought back to earth by his son's loud ‘Amen.' That was a moment that could have defined the film. Unfortunately, the thematic power of a film about a good soldier and father is lost in the ensuing battle of firearms and emblazoned skirmishes.

The screenplay by J.P Davis is rather muddled in its attempt to explore jingoisms involved in materialism, patriotism and political ideology. Half way through, the narrative shifts into thriller gear as action set pieces take over. Saleh, working with a regular team makes good use of locations in Germany, Romania and the States, but the grit, dash and flair are sorely missing from the experience. Alex Belcher's score can do little to up the ante here. Director Tarik Saleh makes the action slick enough but it all feels rather meaningless in the aftermath of such tiresome trivial pursuit. The action choreography is rather uninterestingly routine and the tame plot-turns leave a lot to be desired. Frankly a TV drama would be far more engaging than this.