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Tom Gliatto, People: WEAK (cg) "...an overheated thriller... What starts as a money-counterfeiting scheme takes a twist into art theft before a series of double-crosses reduces it all to dramatic hash. Yet Wahlberg is never less than credible." (Read the full review...) 99 words, 01/12/12 Mary Pols, Time: GOOD "...fleet-footed... The interplay between Wahlberg and Foster and then Ribisi is nicely done but the action in and around the cargo ship is where the movie's real fun lies.... It's an easy pleasure, every domino falls into place." (Read the full review...) 712 words, 01/13/12 Christy Lemire, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...a solid genre picture that knows exactly what it is, has no delusions of grandeur and carries out its task in entertaining and occasionally even suspenseful fashion." (Read the full review...) 468 words, 01/12/12 Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: VERY GOOD (cg) "...sandwiches its good bits into a conventional macho pressure cooker.... The woman-in-peril stuff is second-rate... the plot hangs on one too many blink-and-you'll-miss-'em coincidences. Yet 'Contraband,' while often grungy and far-fetched, does keep you watching." (Read the full review...) 515 words, 01/13/12 Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: MODERATE (cg) "Wahlberg could sleepwalk through this role, and does. See this movie and you'll surely follow his lead." (Read the full review...) 68 words, 01/20/12 Claudia Puig, USA Today: MODERATE (cg) "...has a few moments of tension, but it adheres to a predictable heist formula hardly worth trafficking in." (Read the full review...) 390 words, 01/13/12 Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: MODERATE (cg) "I'm getting tired of violent retreads of these heist elements. It wanted to terrify me for two hours, but what mostly scared me was the challenge of getting back to street level on the theater's steep escalator. Man, they should slow that baby down." (Read the full review...) 740 words, 01/13/12 Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...while no groundbreaker, 'Contraband' is a pretty fair achievement on the Wahlberg genre scale: not as good as 'The Departed,' but way better (and showing far more integrity) than 'The Shooter.' Almost in a league with 'The Italian Job,' even." (Read the full review...) 607 words, 01/12/12 James Berardinelli, Reel Views: MODERATE (cg) "...offers just enough in the way of effective elements to assemble a two-minute trailer.... glaring plot holes are never plugged.... 'Contraband' delivers what it promises... barely." (Read the full review...) 769 words, 01/12/12
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD "...the film's adherence to implausibility as a defining narrative principle -- a reliably winning Mark Wahlberg plays a New Orleans super-smuggler on a fast boat to Panama who faces a wolf, an armored truck and a drip painting -- is part of its low-key kick..." (Read the full review...) 589 words, 01/13/12 Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: WEAK (cg) "Director Baltasar Kormakur's drama overemphasizes its rusted-out atmosphere and slow-as-molasses storytelling. Only Wahlberg rises above the muck; everything else here feels buried in concrete." (Read the full review...) 392 words, 01/13/12 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...the action is hard-charging and the violence gruesome.... an action-junkie's playground." (Read the full review...) 749 words, 01/13/12 Kyle Smith, New York Post: POOR (cg) "...aims to be dumb fun but gets only the first half right. A better title suggests itself, but 'Paycheck' was already taken." (Read the full review...) 597 words, 01/13/12 Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Wahlberg has the presence, the glower and the laconic line readings to guide us through a mess of pain, painlessly.... a movie star assured enough to make a little something out of not much." (Read the full review...) 386 words, 01/13/12 Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: WEAK (cg) "Substandard fare, with more moodiness than action and Wahlberg wasted in a do-nothing role." (Read the full review...) 333 words, 01/13/12 Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine: VERY GOOD "...that rare Hollywood genre film that earns its intensity rather than forcing it upon you.... an atmospheric, effectively nasty, quietly tense little action flick..." (Read the full review...) 545 words, 01/16/12 Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE (cg) "I'm getting tired of violent retreads of these heist elements. It wanted to terrify me for two hours, but what mostly scared me was the challenge of getting back to street level on the theater's steep escalator. Man, they should slow that baby down." (Read the full review...) 740 words, 01/13/12 Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...adapted from an Icelandic original, 2008's 'Reykjavik-Rotterdam'... a shift-job genre movie -- not a bad day's work, content to match the blocky trudge of its star rather than attempt panache." (Read the full review...) 446 words, 01/11/12 Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: MODERATE (cg) "Just eat your popcorn and don't ask questions..." (Read the full review...) 462 words, 01/13/12 Stephen Cole, Toronto Globe & Mail: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...a solid, workmanlike action flick. Although one could argue it would go down better at home on a DVD with your feet up on the coffee table." (Read the full review...) 601 words, 01/13/12 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...stars Mark Wahlberg as an ex-smuggler risking everything to run one last job, and yeah, that's a movie he's made before. It's a movie everyone has made before, come to think of it - including director Baltasar Kormákur." (Read the full review...) 409 words, 01/12/12
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...like an 'Ocean's Eleven' movie, minus the glamour.... Watching it leaves you feeling less buzzed than jittery and slightly nauseated. If the 'Ocean's' movies were martinis, 'Contraband' is a thermos full of coffee." (Read the full review...) 511 words, 01/13/12 Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: MODERATE (cg) "With his Popeye biceps and broody stares, Wahlberg can do a character like Chris without even thinking about it - and that's what he does here. Dialogue on the level of 'you gotta do what you gotta do,' and 'family is family' doesn't help." (Read the full review...) 444 words, 01/13/12 Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: VERY GOOD (cg) "It's like an exciting police procedural turned on its head.... makes no concessions to lazy viewers.... The movie keeps whipping you along. It's an impressive piece of work, at once feverish and lucid." (Read the full review...) 321 words, 01/13/12 Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...a willing cast, led by Mark Wahlberg as the bad guy gone straight who has to pull off one... more... job, and abetted considerably by Giovanni Ribisi as a dependably unhinged lunatic, makes the film a lot better than it could have been." (Read the full review...) 569 words, 01/13/12 Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...an easygoing caper movie with some nasty violence, several plot holes, and a central scheme I couldn't follow.... director Baltasar Kormákur carries the movie off with efficiency, brutality, and humor." (Read the full review...) 700 words, 01/13/12 Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: MODERATE (cg) "As far as crime movies go, this scenario is so old it needs a walker. And nothing here particularly jazzes it up." (Read the full review...) 455 words, 01/13/12 Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE (cg) "Enjoy this one and don't feel guilty, then forget it immediately." (Read the full review...) 496 words, 01/13/12 Soren Andersen, Seattle Times: WEAK (cg) "...a thriller distinctly lacking in thrills.... the characters convey little sense of being real people. They all seem like stand-ins, holding their places on screen until the real performers show up." (Read the full review...) 385 words, 01/13/12 Roger Moore, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: VERY GOOD (cg) "We've been here before. But with its sleazy side of the Big Easy settings and its Scandinavian spin on action and violence, 'Contraband' is still a thoroughly entertaining boat ride." (Read the full review...) 363 words, 01/13/12 Tom Long, Detroit News: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...comes off the factory floor with its engine running and ready to drive. But the ride feels overly familiar." (Read the full review...) 416 words, 01/13/12 Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...the off-kilter tone holds your attention, and it extends to every facet of the movie, such as a sequence depicting the robbery of an armored truck which begins as a brazen rip-off of Michael Mann's 'Heat' but ends on a much loonier note." (Read the full review...) 636 words, 01/13/12
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...adapted from an Icelandic original, 2008's 'Reykjavik-Rotterdam'... a shift-job genre movie -- not a bad day's work, content to match the blocky trudge of its star rather than attempt panache." (Read the full review...) 446 words, 01/11/12 Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: WEAK (cg) "...not nearly as fun as it could have been, but not dramatic or realistic enough to get by as an honest thriller either." (Read the full review...) 560 words, 01/13/12 Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...a composite of knock-offs, but when Sergio Leone's 'Once Upon a Time in America' is among the sources ripped off, the quality is pretty high." (Read the full review...) 153 words, 01/19/12 Nathan Rabin, AV Club: GOOD (cg) "...pretty much exactly as good as it needs to be. It's little more than an effective genre film, but in this era of bloated, convoluted epics, that's cause for minor celebration." (Read the full review...) 339 words, 01/12/12 Alison Willmore, Movieline: VERY GOOD (cg) "...an obligingly tense, scruffy addition to the one-last-crime genre." (Read the full review...) 802 words, 01/12/12 Nick Schager, Slant: POOR (cg) "...a mélange of moments any avid filmgoer has experienced myriad times before... Director Baltasar Kormákur never lets his camera rest, and yet nonetheless manages to generate absolutely no thrilling or suspenseful momentum." (Read the full review...) 455 words, 01/11/12 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...stars Mark Wahlberg as an ex-smuggler risking everything to run one last job, and yeah, that's a movie he's made before. It's a movie everyone has made before, come to think of it - including director Baltasar Kormákur." (Read the full review...) 409 words, 01/12/12
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: VERY GOOD "...an uncommonly well-crafted action adventure.... It's a genre film, not great art... but it's a thoroughly satisfying entertainment... a nice surprise." (Read the full review...) 589 words, 01/13/12 Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD "...the film's adherence to implausibility as a defining narrative principle -- a reliably winning Mark Wahlberg plays a New Orleans super-smuggler on a fast boat to Panama who faces a wolf, an armored truck and a drip painting -- is part of its low-key kick..." (Read the full review...) 589 words, 01/13/12 David Denby, New Yorker: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...[has] no greater ambition than to engage our dreams of behaving badly." (Read the full review...) 242 words, 01/23/12 Scott Tobias, NPR: MODERATE "...nothing in 'Contraband' pops like it should.... There are twists and turns and death-defying scrapes, but not quite enough. 'Contraband' is a film to be remembered, vaguely." (Read the full review...) 553 words, 01/12/12 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...the action is hard-charging and the violence gruesome.... an action-junkie's playground." (Read the full review...) 749 words, 01/13/12 Dana Stevens, Slate: MODERATE "If you enjoy watching Mark Wahlberg do that action-movie thing he does -- a thing involving hidden cash belts and judicious ass-kicking and maritally sanctioned shirtlessness -- you could do worse than to spend your next plane ride watching 'Contraband.' " (Read the full review...) 735 words, 01/12/12 Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: POOR "...the sort of movie that Hollywood specializes in, the kind which seems on paper as if it ought to be entertaining, but winds up a massive and chaotic drag.... the characterization and storytelling feel like afterthoughts." (Read the full review...) 919 words, 01/12/12
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: GOOD "...reasonably swift and effective... maintains a hard-driving line of action and a commitment to one-damned-thing-after-another storytelling that carries it past any number of narrative speed bumps and preposterous detours." (Read the full review...) 676 words, 01/11/12 Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "The gritty style only accentuates the increasingly far-fetched dramatics... an involving, atmospherically grungy mid-register thriller.... some key climactic developments feel variously forced and/or simplistically achieved... [still,] there's enough punch and rough stuff..." (Read the full review...) 827 words, 01/11/12 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...the action is hard-charging and the violence gruesome.... an action-junkie's playground." (Read the full review...) 749 words, 01/13/12 Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...a disappointingly formulaic generic item about high-seas smuggling.... wannabe suspenseful thriller is actually a remake of an Icelandic picture, 'Reykjavik-Rotterdam,' scripted by Arnaldur Indridason and Oskar Jonasson, which was faster and better." (Read the full review...) 552 words, 01/11/12 Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD "...the film's adherence to implausibility as a defining narrative principle -- a reliably winning Mark Wahlberg plays a New Orleans super-smuggler on a fast boat to Panama who faces a wolf, an armored truck and a drip painting -- is part of its low-key kick..." (Read the full review...) 589 words, 01/13/12 Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: VERY GOOD "...an uncommonly well-crafted action adventure.... It's a genre film, not great art... but it's a thoroughly satisfying entertainment... a nice surprise." (Read the full review...) 589 words, 01/13/12
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