Le contrat

This film is about the chase between cops, assassin's associates, assassin and an ex-cop.

The plot is very simple. Run, run and run. Apart from the constant displacement, there is really not much more to the film. As a result, there is no room to develop the characters. The dialog is weak. The only line that had some depth was when Chris exclaimed that he never thought his father listened to him.

The suspense looks too artificial. Why must they climb down the cliff in pouring rain? Is there really no alternative route? The editing was not tight enough to allow the suspense to sustain. Female nudity is put into the film in such a way that seems totally out of place and unnecessary.

In the end, Morgan Freeman's and John Cusack's characters developed respect and sympathy for each other. This could have been portrayed in more detail.

The only redeeming feature is the beautiful scenery. The valleys and waterfalls are breathtaking.

Ray Keene is a former policeman who is struggling to build his relationship with his young son. His plan to bond over a camping trip in the woods goes sour though when they come across a hit-man (Cordell) in the middle of escaping Government custody. Keene holds Cordell at gunpoint but without a mobile phone signal they begin to trek towards civilisation. However with Cordell's men hot on their heels, Ray becomes increasingly desperate as he tries to get to the protection of the authorities.

I saw this film on an overnight bus crossing Argentina. I mention this not as name dropping but to admit that the sound was very low as must passengers were sleeping and relying on headphones or the Spanish subtitles. Without headphones or a working Spanish, I prepared to strain my ears and also use the subtitles the best I could. I needn't have worried because I could have followed this if the sound was on mute and the DVD was playing all the scenes on random shuffle. The plot is simple perhaps but it did offer a sort of moral ambiguity that was interesting to me at first. With two strong actors in the leads I expected the verbal fireworks to be more interesting than the action. In a way I was correct but this is not to say that the script was good – just that the action was poor. The moral complexity of good and bad is skirted on but is ultimately dumped in a ending that is nothing more than insultingly lazy writing.

Fortunately anyone getting to the end will not be surprised by this as it is pretty much what the previous hour or so had been like. The narrative is totally unconvincing and offers little to make up for it. The tension that could have covered the plot holes is absent and the action is mostly just dumb. Writers Katz and Darrouzet deserve much of the credit for this because really nobody is given much to work with. Director Beresford does the basics with little conviction but I did feel sorry for the cast. Freeman and Cusack both deserved much better than this nonsense. Freeman I assume was attracted by the chance to play a baddie and it is a shame then the script doesn't really let him do this with any effort. Cusack does what is asked of him but nothing more. The support cast are average at best in keeping with their cardboard characters.

Overall then a roundly poor film that offers nothing of interest and wastes the talents of the two actors in the lead. If I hadn't been a captive audience I would have struggled to make it past the 30 minute mark.

Every once in a while, they release another movie about a government agent going on the run from his supposed friends (Sydney Pollack's "Three Days of the Condor" brought the genre to its apex 32 years ago, owing in part to widespread distrust of the government at the time). "The Contract" is one such movie, with Morgan Freeman on the run and John Cusack trying to help him. If you turn on the movie not expecting any kind of masterpiece (or not expecting much at all), you won't be a bit disappointed. I could predict much if not most of what was going to happen.

What I found most fascinating about this movie is that it was filmed in Bulgaria. I never would have guessed that that country looks so much like the Pacific Northwest (the setting seriously did look like Washington and Oregon).

But mostly, this is the sort of movie that you rent if there's nothing else to watch. Though in the thick of things, I will say that "Did you learn how to fly in Disneyland?!!!!!" was a pretty entertaining line. Also starring Jonathan Hyde and Bill Smitrovich.

John Cusack must deal with hired killer Morgan Freeman in order to keep his son safe.

Take a great cast that clearly took the roles since they are atypical then undercut them with an unremarkable script and unimaginative direction and you have this forgettable snoozer. Bruce Beresford directed this? Did he show up? Outside of the cast there is no reason to see this film. If you must see this wait for cable, its not even worth a rental.

Not horrible, but you'll forget you saw it-I saw it early today and completely forgot I had watched it until I stumbled on a note to myself about it.

Sure it is not a great movie but it is much better than the reviews on here would have you believe. It was an enjoyable hour and a half of entertainment.