Contraband

When is doing the right thing not doing the right thing? When it's against the law?  When is it right to take the law into your own hands? When the legal system can't or will not?  So, the Buford Pusser's (Joe Don Baker) and Paul Kersey's (Charles Bronson) of the world did the right things for the right reasons, even though their actions were against the law and the in-effective law turned a blind eye.

Contraband, at least from the trailer, isn't exactly like that.  It's doing the wrong thing, for the right reasons and the actions are against the law because the wrong thing is having to commit a crime to make things right.  And not just a small crime, but a mega caper by a retired criminal who, just when he thought he was out, they pulled him back in... OR ... Only one man can pull of this heist and it's you, so you gotta come out of retirement or they're all gonna die...

In Contraband, Mark Wahlberg has to commit the crime to save his wife's brother, a petty criminal from bad guy Ribisi or the law or both.

I like Mark Wahlberg.  He's made some really great films and some real stinkers.  I loved him in I Heart Huckabees and The Italian Job. He was great in Boogie Nights and The Fighter, but really pissed me off as Max Payne, one of my favourite video games ever.  Four Brothers was lame with a similar concept to Contraband- borderline and reformed criminals kicking the asses of real criminals for the greater good because the cops in movies can't.  Not exactly realistic.

What's with movies that glorify criminal activity?  Maybe it's just the notion that the average man, when pushed to the brink, can emerge as an action hero and save the world.  I guess it helps when the average man is an ex-criminal and is a lethal fighter.

I couldn't name 3 Giovanni Ribisi movies, but whenever I see him he's awesome.  I think he's one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood.  Cool to see him as such a bad ass in the trailer.

My friend, Huss, met Kate Beckinsale and said he didn't recognize her in person because she was small and mousy.  Hard to believe because she's pretty hot on screen.

If there was a video store in my neighbourhood, I may have rented this one.  If I come across it on-line, I might watch it.