Genre:
Drama/Thriller
Directed by:
Baltasar Kormakur
Starring:
Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale
Release date:
Fri 13, Jan 2012
Budget $25 million
Box office
$96,262,212
Contraband is an American action crime thriller film
directed by Baltasar Kormákur, starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale. The
film is a remake of the 2008 Icelandic film Reykjavík-Rotterdam which Baltasar
Kormákur starred in. It was released on January 13, 2012 in the United States by
Universal Pictures.
Plot
Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) is an ex-smuggler who works
installing security alarms and lives a peaceful life with his wife, Kate (Kate
Beckinsale), and their two sons in New Orleans. One day, Chris and Kate learn
that her brother Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) was smuggling drugs, but was forced
to drop them into the Mississippi River in order to avoid arrest during a
surprise inspection by U.S. Customs. Andy's boss, ruthless mobster Tim Briggs
(Giovanni Ribisi), is infuriated and demands repayment.
Chris meets with Briggs, who threatens to kill Chris' family
if Andy doesn't pay $700,000 in two weeks. Chris realizes that the only way to
raise the money is to run contraband and joins the crew of a cargo ship where
his father Bud (William Lucking), currently in prison, used to run contraband,
in order to buy $10,000,000 in fake bills in Panama and smuggle them into the
U.S. with the help of Andy and Chris' old friend Danny Raymer (Lukas Haas).
While Chris is gone, Briggs and a couple of his thugs break into Chris's house
and scare his wife and kids. Chris asks his best friend, Sebastian Abney (Ben
Foster), to take care of his family. He suggests that Kate and the children
move to his apartment, and she accepts.
In Panama, the Chief Engineer gives Chris extra time by
sabotaging the ship's pitch propeller, drawing suspicion from Captain Camp (J K
Simmons). However, Chris discovers that the bills are of poor quality and
refuses to accept them. The only one who can provide good ones is crime lord Gonzalo
(Diego Luna). While Chris and Danny negotiate with Gonzalo, Briggs calls Andy
and threatens to kill one of Chris' sons if Andy doesn't immediately take
Chris' money and buy cocaine, and Andy runs off. An infuriated Gonzalo is about
to have them killed when Chris asks if Gonzalo's offer for the two to help in
an armored car heist in exchange for the money was still open. They are
successful, but Gonzalo and his men are killed in a firefight with the police.
Chris and Danny make it back to Gonzalo's warehouse and
escape in a van with the fake money and a painting stolen from the armored car.
Meanwhile, Sebastian begins working with Briggs against Chris after Scottish
gangster Jim Church (David O'Hara) threatens to kill Sebastian if he doesn't
repay the money he borrowed to save his fledgling construction business. When
Sebastian calls Chris, Chris tells him that he might drop the drugs in the
ocean. Sebastian tells Briggs to scare Kate in order to make sure that Chris
doesn't dump the drugs. That night, Briggs rams Kate's workplace with his truck
and assaults her, warning her to tell Chris to not dump the
"package". Sebastian pretends to rescue her, scaring off Briggs. He
tells Kate to get in his truck, but she smells alcohol on him, takes her kids
and drives to a friend's house.
At the Panama City freight yard, the ship's cook has a
container standing by for the contraband-loaded van. He bribes a freight-yard
supervisor to delay the loading of three containers to give Chris time to make
it to the ship. Chris assaults Andy for stealing the money and buying cocaine.
Andy reveals what Briggs told him before. Kate calls Chris and tells him what
Briggs did to her and what he said. Chris is surprised that Briggs knew the
idea of Chris dumping the drugs. He first suspects Andy, but after Andy
persistently tells Chris he didn't say anything, Chris figures out it was
Sebastian.
Sebastian's constant watch over Kate becomes tiresome to
her. She goes back to Sebastian's apartment to retrieve some personal items.
Sebastian, under the influence, tries to force himself on her. Kate resists
him, runs to the bathroom, locks the door and tries to call Chris. Sebastian
insults Kate and tells her not to call Chris, telling her he needs to complete
his mission and Kate calling him would ruin everything. Kate calls him anyway,
and Sebastian breaks the door open, sending Kate flying and bashing her head
against the tub. Sebastian thinks she is dead and panics, wraps her in plastic,
and throws Kate's unconscious body in a yet to be poured foundation.
Sebastian then contacts Camp and admits that Chris is
smuggling on his ship, promising him a share if he makes sure Chris doesn't
throw it overboard. Chris does not give up the contraband, so the captain calls
U.S. Customs. However, when the Customs Agents meet the ship in port, they
cannot find the drugs.
After Andy leaves the ship, Briggs and his thugs chase and
corner him. After Customs has excused Chris, he meets Briggs in a desolate area
of the cargo yard where he threatens to kill Andy. Chris breaks Briggs' car
window, throws him out, and beats him. He tells Andy to run and takes Briggs to
Camp's house, having made a duplicate key while on the ship, and knowingly
activates the security system. Chris opens Camp's personal carpet cleaner and
retrieves the cocaine from the water tank. Briggs and his gang sit in Camp's
living room tasting the cocaine. Chris sneaks out in the Camp's car. Camp
awakens to the noise, and comes into the living room as the police arrive. Both
Briggs and Camp are arrested.
Chris goes to Sebastian's construction site and brutally beats
him, demanding Kate's location. When Sebastian tells Chris that she's dead, he
tries calling her cellphone and hears the ringtone in a building foundation
where cement is being poured and rescues her. Sebastian is arrested and meets
Bud in prison, where Bud gives a group of inmates an approving nod as they
surround Sebastian.
Danny retrieves the fake bills, which Chris had previously
dumped into the Mississippi River. Andy buys the escape van at a police
auction.
Chris meets with Church, who pays him $3 million for the
fake currency. In a friendly conversation, Church asks Chris if he knows
anything about a Jackson Pollock (Autumn Rhythm) painting that was stolen in
Panama, telling him that it's worth over $140 million, or $20 million on the
black market. As they leave the meeting with Church, they find painting still
in the van, having gone unnoticed. The film ends with Chris and his family in a
waterfront house.
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References.
External links:
"Main Page." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Sept. 2012. Web. 03 Sept. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>.
https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi
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