Plot
Ray Keene (John Cusack), a father who wants to redeem himself in the eyes of his son (Jamie Anderson)...
Release Year: 2006
Rating: 5.7/10 (13,307 voted)
Director:
Bruce Beresford
Stars: John Cusack, Morgan Freeman, Jamie Anderson
Storyline Ray Keene (John Cusack), a father who wants to redeem himself in the eyes of his son (Jamie Anderson), is trying to bring Carden (Morgan Freeman), a world-class assassin to justice. All the while, he must protect his son and evade the assassin's team who are methodically hunting them down in the wilderness.
Writers: Stephen Katz, John Darrouzet
Cast: Morgan Freeman
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Major Frank Carden
John Cusack
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Ray Keene
Jamie Anderson
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Chris Keene
Alice Krige
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Agent Gwen Miles
Megan Dodds
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Sandra
Corey Johnson
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Davis
Jonathan Hyde
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Turner
Bill Smitrovich
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Police Chief Ed Wainwright
Anthony Warren
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Royko
Thomas Lockyer
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Johnson
Ned Bellamy
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Evans
Gary Whelan
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Agent Stanfield
Ian Shaw
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Michaels
Atanas Srebrev
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Rodrigues
Maynard Eziashi
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Agent Chuck Robbins
Taglines:
The only thing standing between an assassin and his target is a father who must protect his son.
Trivia:
The nude figure climbing out of the river is not Megan Dodds. A body double was used.
Goofs:
Continuity:
After getting out of the river, both Cardin's and the U.S. Marshal's jackets were mostly dry.
Quotes: Frank:
Frank I don't have to help I am the bad guy.
User Review
Disappointing
Rating: 4/10
The Contract presents itself as an engaging action thriller with lots
of twists. Including the always enjoyable performances of John Cusack
and Morgen Freeman one should be in for a great ride. But after several
moments into this film it becomes clear why the script has been lying
on a dusty shelf somewhere for so long, waiting for top actors to get
involved.
Even with the star involvement, the movie just fails to surpass its
weak plot and tired premise. Ex-cop Ray, (Cusack) estranged father, and
his son are on a hike to better their relationship when they stumble
upon a fatally injured policeman and his prisoner, the hit-man Carden
(Freeman). In stead of just letting Carden walk as Carden suggests,
Ray, for no apparent reason, decides to turn him over to the police at
the risk of his own life and that of his son. After this the chase
through the woods for Carden by both the police and Carden's
accomplices begins. With people running through bushes, occasional
gunfire and certain bad weather.
Although Freeman and Cusack give away ample performances, the dialog
seems to be that of some average TV-series. The villains and the
characters of the police fare even worse. The movie just doesn't pick
up any speed as it steers clear from any interesting action or build up
of suspense. And especially the lack of motive for Ray to keep going
with his plan to turn Carden in gets annoying after a while and this
doesn't work very well in terms of sympathy for his hero-character. It
is obvious that Catz wanted to write a story in which the bad guy
develops sympathy for his capturer and maybe the other way around as
well. But the cheesy, almost campy way this is attempted and the high
number of scenes that just don't make any sense, stand in the way of
its success.
Like the former reviewer pointed out, the movie is crammed with clichés
and is lacking any originality. There are no mentionable plot-twists to
keep the film interesting and the hackneyed screenplay is often
accidentally comical.
I wouldn't even recommend getting the DVD. Just wait till it's the
movie of the week and then see something else in stead.
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