The Contract (2006/I)

Director:

Bruce Beresford

Writers (WGA):

Stephen Katz (written by) &
John Darrouzet (written by)

Release Date:

23 November 2006 (Israel)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

Every Killer Meets His Equal.

Plot:

Ray Keene, a father who wants to redeem himself in the eyes of his son, is trying to bring Carden, a world-class assassin to justice...

Plot Keywords:

River | Baseball | Basketball | Helicopter | Van Rollover

Cast

Morgan Freeman	...	Major Frank Carden
John Cusack	...	Ray Keene
Jamie Anderson	...	Chris Keene
Alice Krige	...	Agent Gwen Miles
Megan Dodds	...	Sandra
Corey Johnson	...	Davis
Jonathan Hyde	...	Turner
Bill Smitrovich	...	Police Chief Ed Wainwright
Anthony Warren	...	Royko
Thomas Lockyer	...	Johnson
Ned Bellamy	...	Evans
Gary Whelan	...	Agent Stanfield
Ian Shaw	...	Michaels
Atanas Srebrev	...	Rodrigues
Maynard Eziashi	...	Agent Chuck Robbins

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:16 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 | USA:R (certificate #41683) | Netherlands:16 | Peru:14

Filming Locations:

Sofia, Bulgaria

Company:

Contract Productions

Trivia:

The nude figure climbing out of the river is not Megan Dodds. A body double was used.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The police helicopters' registrations start with "LZ" which means they are registered in Bulgaria, not the US which have an "N". Meaning it has not been filmed in the Washington State forests but in Bulgaria.

Quotes:

Frank: Don't confuse me with a nice guy.

Movie Connections:

References Gunga Din (1939)

Soundtrack:

You Thought

Too average for two terrific actors

I am a huge fan of both Morgan Freeman and John Cussack, so when I saw this rental at Hollywood Video, I didn't hesitate, it seemed like a very good idea of the two of them being together in the film. However, I was disappointed when I brought it home and looked up the rating on IMDb to see an average rating. But knowing I had to get my money's worth, I watched it this evening, now I didn't think it was a bad movie, but it was pretty average for what I was expecting from these extremely talented actors. The plot had extreme potential, but some things were not explained well enough, like the characters just had no depth. The script just needed some more work.

After Ray's son gets into trouble, he wants to do a little bonding with him, so he takes him camping. But things get a little interesting when he and his son try to save two people from the river who have washed ashore, one of them is a police officer who is fatally wounded and the other man, Cander, is a hit man who is wanted by the F.B.I. and is also being followed by his fellow assassins. Ray and his son take Cander and try to take him to the police, but it's hard when the assassins are after all of them and won't stop until they get what they want.

A hit-man with a heart of gold, not that original, not that believable, not to mention how some of the plot seemed a bit mediocre and confusing at times. Now, Morgan and John did a good job with what they had, they made the film watchable. They really did have good chemistry so I do hope they do a film together soon, just before they do that, they read the script first. So The Contract is a film I would say is watchable, just like I said, it's a bit average for what you would expect, but just judge for yourself.

6/10