The Contract

I would be misled if I went by most of the comments on this movie. Perhaps, if you have inordinately high expectations because of the talent involved, you might be disappointed. However, I had no expectations and it turned out to be a pretty entertaining adventure movie. Most of the time, I get a good indication from the comments on this site. This time they are wrong. It is a fun movie and certainly better than the majority of trash that is out these days on DVD, i.e. the garbage that examines the depths of human depravity under an electron microscope with no saving grace. One example is the disgusting horror movies that seem to celebrate the evil in humanity while offering a template for any twisted mind on the fringe just waiting for some excuse to "try that". I don't know about the rest of you, but I go to the movies to be entertained and uplifted if possible. Most critics seems to think movies are for moral edification and as a vehicle for their idea of the "artistic" spirit. Yes, sometimes, but I have had enough of subtitles and Greek tragedies and political statements (almost always liberal). Give me some good old fashioned adventure with positive "heros", etc. (TV is getting better than the movies at this.) All in all, I still find IMDb.com very useful; just not this time.

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source: The Contract

The widower teacher and baseball and basketball coach Ray Keene (John Cusack) lost his wife that died of cancer two years ago. When his teenage son Chris Keene (Jamie Anderson) is caught by the police smoking pot, Ray invites him to hike and camp in the woods to increase their bonds. Meanwhile, the mercenary assassin Frank Cordell (Morgan Freeman) is arrested by FBI after a car accident in the middle of a contract to kill an important target. While Frank is traveling on the road escorted by three FBI agents, his men try to rescue him, but his car falls into a river and is carried by the drift. Ray helps the wounded agent and the cuffed Frank to leave the river, and feels responsible to deliver Frank to justice. The former policeman and stubborn Ray does not listen to Frank's proposal to leave him alone and travel through the woods with Chris, trying to find a safe place. But the men of the Frank and an undercover agent in the team are chasing the group with different lethal intentions. "The Contract" is a shallow and flawed thriller that has the intention of being dramatic and serious, but actually is laughable. The silly plot is full of coincidences and stupid actions taken by most of the characters. For example, in the beginning, the FBI agent leaves the car to help the truck driver on the road; the attitude of the crew of the helicopter is simply ridiculous when they land, specially the pilot; the way a suburban coach defeats trained mercenaries is shameful; and the coincidences when the bad guys shoot and miss the target are awful; the hiker Sandra loses her boyfriend and never grieves; and the corny romance of Sandra and Ray, and the incredible sentimental attitude of Frank Cordell in the end make this film a great deception. The motives why the reclusive billionaire apparently could not criticize the stem cell research program in a democratic and free country are never clarified, only tagged as "an obstacle to the progress". Is this a reason to kill and important man? My vote is five. Title (Brazil): "O Contrato" ("The Contract")

When a movie feels longer than it really is, you know that's a bad sign. The Contract easily feels a good half hour longer than its 90 minutes. 'Action' is a word that can only loosely be ascribed to the film. Sequences that should be thrilling plod along at an almost leisurely pace. The considerable talents of Morgan Freeman are wasted here; while his very presence elevates any movie, he has little to do here but utter uninspired dialog. John Cusack phones his performance in. Newcomer Jamie Anderson is adequate as Cusack's son, but hardly a revelation. Bill Smitrovich, an actor I normally enjoy seeing in small roles, is terrible as the 'comic relief', a small-town police chief. The film is ultimately generic, bland, unengaging, and a waste of considerable talent. I expected more from Freeman, Cusack and Bruce Beresford, who directed the far more entertaining thriller Double Jeopardy. A pity.

This is almost worth watching, just to see how truly bad movies can get. Not just in terms of dialog or action, but in the actual writing of the characters themselves. There is no complexity to any single character, despite the fact that the potential for impact exists, and all the interactions fall flat. Nothing of it is real, it lacks any essential life, and rather than painting any kind of portrait or people that might exist (unusual or otherwise), it creates characters that are so one dimensional that even the most simple person on earth is vastly more complex. As I said, if you actually like movies, it might be worth watching just for that reason alone: to see how NOT to do this sort of thing.

Every once in a while, they release another movie about a government agent going on the run from his supposed friends (Sydney Pollack's "Three Days of the Condor" brought the genre to its apex 32 years ago, owing in part to widespread distrust of the government at the time). "The Contract" is one such movie, with Morgan Freeman on the run and John Cusack trying to help him. If you turn on the movie not expecting any kind of masterpiece (or not expecting much at all), you won't be a bit disappointed. I could predict much if not most of what was going to happen. What I found most fascinating about this movie is that it was filmed in Bulgaria. I never would have guessed that that country looks so much like the Pacific Northwest (the setting seriously did look like Washington and Oregon). But mostly, this is the sort of movie that you rent if there's nothing else to watch. Though in the thick of things, I will say that "Did you learn how to fly in Disneyland?!!!!!" was a pretty entertaining line. Also starring Jonathan Hyde and Bill Smitrovich.

I am a huge fan of both John Cusack and Morgan Freeman. This must have been a favor they owed someone. The part I found to be the most clichéd is how many movies do we have to see the coffee and donut routine between the FBI and the local police? The only movie that it actually worked in and WAS funny was Boondock Saints which is an original classic. Really, are these actors living paycheck to paycheck these days? So much for classics like High Fidelity and Grosse Point Blank, or how about Seven and Shawshank Redemption. I guess movies are strictly a packaged product to put some spending cash in peoples wallets while lightening ours as we seem to be stupid enough fall for it every time myself included. My point is this is definitely the icing on the cake, I'll be thinking twice the next time one of my favorite actors makes another film. Thanks a lot big business for yet again ruining great artisans!

The only clichéd plot device missing was an animal encounter/attack. Otherwise they threw every tired old theme into this lack luster mess. Truly not worth your time. This review does contain spoilers, but the truth is there is NOTHING in this movie that you haven't seen done better elsewhere. The dysfunctional family: mother dead of cancer, the teenage boy in trouble with the law and blaming his father, the father an (utterly unbelievable) ex-cop now a teacher and Little League couch. The "stone-cold killer" gang. Dead on accurate when shooting anyone but our "hero". The quasi-political "hitman" plot. The DC Feds mocking the hick small town cops. The hick small town cops knowing they are being mocked and retaliating. The survival trek through the wilderness with the inevitable onset of bad weather. Father and son on a cliff edge with the assassin bad guy behind them and NOTHING happens! The bad guy actually catches and saves the son from falling when he inevitably slips and would otherwise plunge to his death. Encounter with a dysfunctional obvious "red shirt" couple out hiking! Bad guy gaining respect for our hero dad, and becoming an almost good guy in the end. Father and son reconciled. *rolls eyes* See what I mean? Nothing original, nothing new, no unexpected twists. In short, a complete waste of time and talent. This is a bad, bad, bad movie ... one that stars like Morgan Freeman, and John Cusak should be ashamed of taking part in. And what on earth happened on Alice Krige ... she looks truly awful in this movie?!

Absolutely awful! Do not waste your money or time on this movie. I've seen some really bad movies in my day. This is definitely in the top 5. I never write reviews, even for movies I like. That tells you how bad this show is. The dialogue sounds like something some 5th graders cooked up. The plot/twists could have been interesting if they would have followed through. There were several elements at the beginning of the movie that could have been played with and made an interesting movie. They did nothing with them. The movie was so disconnected that I couldn't even follow it. I expected more from a movie that starred John Cusack and Morgan Freeman. I'm still trying to figure out how they got tricked into playing in this movie. Their agents really dropped the ball.