The trailer for the new Mark Wahlberg thriller Contraband, which debuted at Yahoo! and is embedded below, opens with this bit of dialogue: "You were the best of the best. But the proudest day of my life was when you turned legit. You started a family and you got outta the life." When a trailer opens with that kind of bald-faced exposition, in which a father speaks the facts of a son's life who knows these things perfectly well, you know you're headed somewhere very, very familiar. Take a look at the rest of the trailer below to see just how familiar I mean.
So, just when Mark Wahlberg thought he was out… his wife's no-good brother-in-law pulls him back in. And from there it's all commands, guns, running, explosions, bad guys and no-good activity all in the name of a huge chunk of money. Contraband is a remake of the Icelandic film Reykjavic-Rotterdam and I imagine the whole scenario might have seen a lot more original in the Icelandic version, and not starring Mark Wahlberg, who we've seen getting into these kinds of pickles onscreen for what feels like forever. Universal made the bold decision to hire Baltasar Kormakur as the director, remaking the film he original starred in, wrote and co-produced. He can't be blamed for the movie's generic feel, but his other English language credits like the direct-to-DVD Inhale don't give much reason to assume he'll bring something new.
Contraband opens on January 13 next year, and in that dead time of year for movie releases, I suppose it might feel entertaining enough when it comes along. Let me know in the comments if you guys are more excited about what you see here
