Freelance

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.

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.

Freelance has a strangely low budget feel that is coupled with very tongue-in-cheek lines. It is a film that cannot be taken seriously. However... the silliness rests on a quite poignant issue. How malign private operators exploit countries for their resources. Although this is buried away under the cheesy action scenes, looking back it is something that has stuck with me. Whether this is by design, I do not know. But the more I think about it, the more I realise the film included some clever nods towards recent dictators and various situations around the world. At the very least, some thought has gone into the film.

That to one side. John Cena is John Cena. I would like to see more of Alison Brie on the big screen, she is someone who seems to have a lot of talent that is not being used to its full extent. That is evident here, she brings something extra to her two-dimensional character in Freelance. Not a lot, though.

It is a film without revelation. If you watch it, you cannot be surprised by its mediocrity.

Freelance is a decent action comedy held up by strong character performances particularly from Juan Pablo Raba. The film takes obvious inspiration from The Lost City, replacing artifacts and authors for hit jobs and journalists. The chemistry between the cast is there and the dialog feels natural. Some scenes feel shoehorned in which detracts from the overall story. However overall the twists feel mostly original and provide a compelling plot.

Raba absolutely nails his role as a Castro-ish ruthless dictator who feigns ignorance. His deliveries are perfectly timed and at times he carries the entire weight of the story.

John Cena and Alison Brie were great in their roles with palpable chemistry as well however their roles were somewhat hamstrung by clumsy writing.

Overall this is a fun and exciting movie for adults. It's not a perfect production but it's a worthy film if not entirely held up by strong acting.

Not bad but not much to write home about either. Felt somewhat original but still a bit forgettable. I wasn't a big fan of the POV camera shots at the beginning. Just from the voice narrating you knew it was John Cena. His character didn't quite embody the persona of a grown-up adult but that was intentional.

Ohhh I should say I absolutely loved that they portrayed him as a stand up-guy with morals. Hate it when a guy can't just be a decent person and has to resort to cheating or something. You could see it coming, they literally built up that cheesy romcom tension leading to that one predictable moment.

John Cena was good here, one of his better roles in my opinion, more natural acting. He has that "dumb steroid" walk, which suits certain roles but feels a bit out of place in a suit and tie, accentuates the "dumb" part lol. Also nice to see Christian Slater, I only knew him from "Mr. Robot."

It was funny at times. And I really loved the hand combat scenes. There is a lot of violence, the action adds an extra star to the rating for me. Doesn't lean too heavily into any specific genre. It's laidback, fun and funny, mildly adventurous action movie. It could have been more intense and complex for drama, or more absurd for comedy, or pushed the action for a spy thriller, or even hammered home the political side; but it stays fairly balanced.

Doesn't take itself seriously. My initial thought leaving the theater was, "this would make a great pastime movie." It's worth checking out if you aren't expecting to be awed. Respectfully I don't think anybody walks into a John Cena movie expecting to be blown away. I wasn't and the movie felt better than I expected so I enjoyed it. There are certainly better films out there, but there are also worse ones.