Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueEx-C.I.A. Agent James Dial (Wesley Snipes) is asked to take out terrorist Ali Mahmud Jahar (Nikolai Sotirov), only to realize he's been set up by his former employer, Jeremy Collins (Ralph B... Tout lireEx-C.I.A. Agent James Dial (Wesley Snipes) is asked to take out terrorist Ali Mahmud Jahar (Nikolai Sotirov), only to realize he's been set up by his former employer, Jeremy Collins (Ralph Brown).Ex-C.I.A. Agent James Dial (Wesley Snipes) is asked to take out terrorist Ali Mahmud Jahar (Nikolai Sotirov), only to realize he's been set up by his former employer, Jeremy Collins (Ralph Brown).
- Réalisation
- Scénario
- Casting principal
- Ali Mahmud Jahar's daughter
- (images d'archives)
- Ali Mahmud Jahar
- (as Nikolay Sotirov)
Avis à la une
To the plebeian crowd, if Wesley Snipes is on the poster, that means some semi-mindless non-stop action, with a streak of silly humour once in a while, is coming their way. But Wesley never signed an agreement about that, did he now? This is not an action film, though you see some action in it.
First of all, it is a very low budget film, so don't go all tough and smart criticizing it. Those B-movies, which come to TV only late at night because other slots are for those blockbusters, can certainly not be measured against The Art of War or Blade. The Contractor is a simple, low budget film that shows a little girl's bond with an assassin, whose mission has gone wrong and who has fallen the prey of his own employers. While the action sequences and other things are inadvertently done, very special care has been taken of those moments that reflect the warmth of feelings. Lena Heady was not a necessary recruit for this film, her role any pretty face could play. But I like her, so I am glad she did it.
Some low budget, non-famous films sometimes leave lasting impressions. Maybe they fail overall in box office and audience poll, but sometimes there can be very heartfelt elements in such films. I watched it late at night and liked it for what it is. I was not disappointed for what it was not. Because if I wanted someone other film, I would watch some other film.
But of course, idiots have minds (and comments on IMDb) of their own.
Enter agent Collins, his supervising officer. Enter a new assignment - kill a terrorist that is in UK custody. Of course the United Kingdom being an allied state is a great place for covert ops and head-shots outside of courtrooms.
The assassination is a big success apart from the fact, that the escape plan blew. So Dial's partner and local liaison gets killed in action trying to escape the police, whilst Dial becomes hot property with the London coppers trying to get to him and CIA trying to dispose of him.
Fortunately for Dial the safe-house is routinely visited by a teenager Emily Day (Eliza Bennett), who loves hanging out with cold-blooded killers with arrest warrants and help them escape from the evil UK law enforcement...
With a script like that need I say more? On the plus side Wesley Snipes is Wesley Snipes (be that a pro or a con) and the movie is quite engaging. On the minus editing is very disjointing and has a hurl effect on the stomach.
Of course, in all this gem of a script idea there is also bad screen play, occasional bad acting and things that make no sense. It's like a good machine without oil, everything is well made but not really working. The action scenes are shaky and amateurish for a Snipes movie, but then again, the point was not the action or the technical prowess of the hit men, but the fact that they are human beings.
At first I thought it was going to be another Nikita/Leon ripoff, but the girl story arch was sensible and reasonably original. The ending was a little bit forced, too.
Bottom line: in the abysmal hell of bad written hit-man action movies, this obscure film is a real gem in the mud and a reminder that the budget is not really important, nor the genre of the film, but the very real effort of actually trying to make a movie, not just money.
So either
A. Wesley isn't doing this strictly for money and has a more distinct personal interest in the parts that he has been playing....or
B. Wesley makes a lot more money from these than any of us really know.
Either way, decent movie, I recommend watching it if you are a Snipes fan like myself. He has made far worse.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesShares a similar plot with another Wesley Snipes movie, The Detonator (2006). In both movies, Snipes played an ex-C.I.A. operative whose career took a turn south with one botched mission. Several years later, he gets recruited by an old friend to do "one last job", only to be betrayed by this friend. With the authorities and his betrayer pursuing him, (and in spite of being a black man travelling alone in a European country) Snipes' characters manage to keep low profiles long enough to clear their names.
- GaffesIn the closing scene, where James Dial is seen leaving London, the train he is shown boarding is clearly not British and the Bulgarian Railways logo is clearly visible as it is seen departing.
- Citations
[first lines]
Jeremy Collins: Ali Mahmud Jahar. Remember him?
James Dial: [flashbacks]
Jeremy Collins: Of course you do.
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Détails
- Date de sortie
- Pays d’origine
- Langue
- Aussi connu sous le nom de
- The Contractor
- Lieux de tournage
- Sociétés de production
- Voir plus de crédits d'entreprise sur IMDbPro
Box-office
- Budget
- 18 000 000 $US (estimé)
- Durée
- 1h 45min(105 min)
- Mixage
- Rapport de forme
- 1.85 : 1