Contraband gallery
What parents need to know
Positive role models
Violence
Sex
Language
Consumerism
Drinking, drugs, & smoking
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Contraband is an intense action thriller about a former smuggler (played by Mark Wahlberg) who's forced to go back into business to protect his family. Expect distressing violence: The bad guys beat up and nearly sexually assault the main character's wife, as well as point guns at his tween kids. There's also fighting, shooting, killing, and blood. Language is another major issue, with characters saying either "f--k" or "s--t" literally every couple of minutes. The bad guys smuggle cocaine, and viewers see huge bricks of it; characters are also seen snorting some. A secondary character is a recovering alcoholic who falls off the wagon.
User reviews
Parents say
Kids say
What's the story?
In New Orleans, Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) is a brilliant former smuggler who's gone straight for the sake of his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and two sons. But when his wife's younger brother (Caleb Landry Jones) gets in trouble with a local thug (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris must go back into business with his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster). Their plan is to ship out to Panama, pick up a huge, truck-sized pile of counterfeit bills -- Chris refuses to smuggle drugs -- and bring it back. Unfortunately absolutely everything goes wrong, from bad bills to a temperamental drug lord (Diego Luna) and a betrayal.
Is it any good?
QUALITY
CONTRABAND's plot (remade from a 2008 Icelandic thriller) is pretty creaky, but Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur's execution is scrappy and energetic. The movie begins at ground level, with an authentically urban, working-class feel around Chris; it's similar in this regard to the atmosphere of The Fighter. Using this as a basis, Kormakur very simply keeps raising the stakes.
The story grows more and more absurd, but each new wrinkle generates more suspense. Kormakur isn't particularly good at subtle things (like revealing a secret twist or creating a moment of discovery), and the action could have been cleaner and sharper, but most of the movie is based around big events, and they're very satisfying. It's more about guts than brains, along with generating supreme tension. The strong cast also includes J.K. Simmons as a cranky ship's captain and Lukas Haas as a nervous helper.
Families can talk about...
Families can talk about Contraband's violence. Is it suspenseful or gory? Is it necessary to the story?
The characters use questionable methods to accomplish their goals. What message does that send to viewers? Do the ends ever justify the means?
At the end of the movie, the main characters are left with the promise of great -- albeit ill-gotten -- riches. Do you think they'll find happiness?
Â
Movie details
| Theatrical release date: | January 13, 2012 |
| DVD release date: | April 24, 2012 |
| Cast: | Ben Foster, Kate Beckinsale, Mark Wahlberg |
| Director: | Baltasar Kormakur |
| Studio: | Universal Pictures |
| Genre: | Thriller |
| Run time: | 110 minutes |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | violence, pervasive language and brief drug use |
Great handpicked alternatives
For kids who love thrills
Browse more movies
Top advice and articles
What parents and kids say
Share your thoughts with other parents and kids Write a user review
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines
QUALITY
Not that inappropriate.....
Common sense overrated this one...not to inappropriate...Just some intense violence and drugs. OK movie
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
QUALITY
Thriller keeps you grabbing on to the edge of your seat... and your ears
Mark Wahlberg stars in this new action packed, nail biting film. As far as entertaining goes, this movies got it all. It really just shocks you scares you, makes you go "wow", and makes you cringe. If your only concern is quality then read no further, on the other hand, content differs. As far as violence is concerned, it is not frequent but can get extreme, there is a gun shot scene where you can see bullets penetrate skin (blood is shown), you can see a woman accidentally beaten, (head is cracked against against a counter)and blood is shown after, and there are many combat scenes that can get intense and some points get borderline sexually violent, nothing inappropriate is shown but can send a uneasy message that one woman could be raped. As far as drugs, a good portion of the film is about whether to or to not smuggle drugs and how to get a man his drugs. This felt pretty controversial to me. One important moral my parents have instilled in me is to always steer away from drugs, so moral of this movie, drugs only leads to trouble. And finally, the profanity in this film was down right desensitizing. Barley on sentence went by without hearing f**k. It's nothing any middle schooler has ever herd, but the frequency is so common, you begin to think its no big deal. So this movie may be a tough decision, overall older teens and up.
What other families should know
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
QUALITY
Go!
Took my 15 y.o. son and his friend, also 15. We knew what we were in for and enjoyed it - when you're going to see a Mark Wahlberg movie, you know you are going to get intensity. It was violent at times, but not gruesome, and it was in line with what you'd expect from drug world thugs. It's a movie about the seedy underworld of the drug trade - not pretty stuff but I felt like the dirtiness of that lifestyle was pretty realistically portrayed. Although Wahlberg's character is by no means a role model, I personally love the badass-ness he brought to the role, all with a fight-to-the-death devotion for his family. Enjoyed it and so did the boys.
