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John Cena struggles in the comedic aspects of his role as a buffoonish bodyguard, coming across as silly and unintelligent rather than funny. However, his character abruptly shifts into wisecracking fight mode when action sequences emerge, creating a lack of continuity.

Alison Brie brings little authenticity or nuance to what should be an intrepid journalist character. Her bold persona feels more like a facade, lacking the complexity that would make her motivations more compelling.

The film touches on the overdone theme of bad marriages leading to bitterness and divorce. While reflecting some realities, its portrayal leans into stereotypical notions about self-centered western culture. It offers no meaningful perspectives on relationships.

The supporting cast delivers far stronger performances, adding a groundedness that the story desperately lacks. Even the villains showcase more subtlety than the two leads.

The plot is straightforward with an absence of clever twists or unexpected turns. It does attempt some commentary on the insidiousness of dictatorships, but in uninspired fashion.

Overall, Freelance assembles an impressive cast but fails to make good use of their talents. The promising premise gives way to shallow characters and a lack of directorial creativity. Fans of the genre may forgive its shortcomings, but for most viewers the film lives down to its generic title.

In silly action comedy "Freelance" ex-Special forces John Cena's bored with civilian life (married to Alice Eve) til his ex-boss Christian Slater (now running a private security firm) hires him to bodyguard journalist Alison Brie (always likeable) as she goes to interview flashy dictator Juan Pablo Raba (good) in his South American republic... where mercenary Marton Csokas leads a coup attempt, and twisty chaos, bloodshed & double-dealing ensues. It's poorly directed (especially the fight scenes) by the experienced Pierre Morel, but written engagingly enough by the debuting Jacob Lentz. It's light & forgettable, but passable enough entertainment for undemanding viewers.

Watching Freelance was such a strange experience. There is so much wrong with it. It's filled with stupid moments and things that make no sense. The story and action are completely unrealistic. Yet I found myself invested and entertained. Not once did I feel bored or like "I don't want to be here."

I guess it's just an amusing premise with some charming actors. And while unrealistic, the action scenes are pretty fun and mostly well-shot. There are a couple decent fight scenes and a few memorable moments.

Having said all that, there are so many flaws. The most egregious examples occur during the action scenes. Bullets seem to be the least effective method of killing. There is an extensive scene with two characters running through an open field with no cover. And a helicopter is UNLOADING bullets and missiles on them. It's basically two minutes of them running with bullets and explosions all around them.

In multiple other scenes, someone will fire numerous shots at short distances and hit nothing. It's so obvious. It would offend even the most lenient of viewers. Also, for a comedy there isn't much humor. I only laughed a few times.

Even with all the flaws, I didn't mind watching this. It's not "good." But I'll take this over 95% of the straight-to-streaming (straight-to-boredom) movies.

(1 viewing, 1/15/2024)

I am gonna echo a few of the reviewers before me. This movie is somewhat in between a comedy and an action movie, yet never fully goes into any of the 2 genres despite not holding on the blood. There is a few "chuckles" moment but there was never really big hillarious moments. There is a few cool action scenes but they are not that numerous considering the 1h50 runtime.

That said the movie does have us guessing a bit in parts of the plot and never get too predictable, and John Cena charisma truly manage to keep us invested. Alison Brie is both gorgeous and charismatic as well as the sidekick. Juan Pablo Raba also has some pretty cool moments as the over the top dictator.

Basically this is a movie i enjoyed watching but i don't see myself rewatching until a pretty long time. It did the job it was suppose to do wich is entertain me for roughly 2 hours.

Supposedly an action comedy, but it was both lacking in comedy and in action.

The bad; I didnt laugh once, I smirked a few times (at the start) that was about it. Comedy is personal, maybe other folks might find it hilarious, but it left me cold.

What's good though is that it doesnt aim to be a farce. It does inject enough reality into the story to make it believable (ish).

What's lacking as well though is the action part. There is little to none action and when there is some it is kinda childish. Not riveting or excting in any way.

This movie seems targetted at a teenage / family audience. So you wont get annoyed by it or offended, the worst that could happen (and did happen to me) is that you might get pretty bored by the bland story and the lack of humour.