By all appearances a quick and cheaply-made thriller made to cash in on a couple of star actors. The Contract is a film about a team of hit-man sent to carry out a double assassination who find themselves in hot water when their boss (Morgan Freeman) is captured by a random passing stranger (John Cusack) who just happens to be hiking out in the wilderness with his son.
What follows will surprise nobody, with plenty of the type of low-rent gun-friendly heroics of many a Steven Seagal-starring DTV actioner. The movie has a general rushed feeling to it in terms of the writing, throwing in the same old clichés (the father/son bonding and both missing the deceased mother) yet benefiting from Freeman's star performance. Although he's playing a bad guy this time around, Freeman is impossible to dislike and the film makers realise this, playing on his best qualities throughout.
The less said about John Cusack, the better. I've never liked this guy and he sleepwalks through the movie, delivering the kind of performance that could have been bettered by a zombie. The supporting cast are nothing to write home about either, with Alice Krige (STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT) wasted as a government agent and only Corey Johnson registering as one of the assassin team. The action is disappointing, mostly dark and murky (although one bit with a helicopter is rather good) and I was left looking at my watch rather than enjoying the on-screen story.
What follows will surprise nobody, with plenty of the type of low-rent gun-friendly heroics of many a Steven Seagal-starring DTV actioner. The movie has a general rushed feeling to it in terms of the writing, throwing in the same old clichés (the father/son bonding and both missing the deceased mother) yet benefiting from Freeman's star performance. Although he's playing a bad guy this time around, Freeman is impossible to dislike and the film makers realise this, playing on his best qualities throughout.
The less said about John Cusack, the better. I've never liked this guy and he sleepwalks through the movie, delivering the kind of performance that could have been bettered by a zombie. The supporting cast are nothing to write home about either, with Alice Krige (STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT) wasted as a government agent and only Corey Johnson registering as one of the assassin team. The action is disappointing, mostly dark and murky (although one bit with a helicopter is rather good) and I was left looking at my watch rather than enjoying the on-screen story.