Movie studios used to treat January as a dumping ground. It’s where prestige non-starters, expensive misfires, and critically reviled genre fare were buried, never (hopefully) to be heard from again. It was the age of Richard Benjamin’s “Downtown,” Sean S. Cunningham’s “DeepStar Six” and Norman Jewison’s aptly titled “The January Man.” Generally, the major holiday releases held down the box office fort until more respectable fare could get filtered in throughout February and March.
At some point in the 2000s, the studios realized they were ignoring the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. They still weren’t sending their most promising titles unto the breach during this period, but you could score with starry comedies like John Hamburg’s “Along Came Polly” or buzzy, unconventional events like Matt Reeves’ “Cloverfield.” Granted, memorable films still rarely get released in January, but at least seeing a new movie in theaters doesn’t feel like dumpster diving.
In the modern theatrical era, the platonic ideal of a January release might be Baltasar Kormákur’s “Contraband.” It’s a mid-budget heist flick led by Mark Wahlberg, Hollywood’s most serviceable movie star, and loaded with acting heavyweights like Ben Foster, J.K. Simmons, and Diego Luna. That’s a lot of talent for a modest movie, but even if the movie is nothing to write home about, you’re at least going to watch a terrific cast bounce off each other. 14 years after its release, “Contraband” is still attracting curious viewers, as it’s currently the 10th most popular movie on Netflix.
Contraband confidently goes through the action-thriller motions
I saw “Contraband” at a press screening back in 2012, and all I remember is Foster’s absorbing portrayal of Wahlberg’s trustworthy former smuggling partner, with whom our protagonist leaves his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and two children when his brother gets caught up in a cocaine-trafficking deal that goes south. Wahlberg’s trying to go straight, but, alas, he’s been pulled back into the game. The plot is surprisingly intricate for a standard-issue crime, but you can see all the double-crosses coming. I will say, however, that the “Chekhov’s gun” payoff with a Jackson Pollock painting is clever.
Aside from Foster Simmons, Luna and Beckinsale, you get a sneer-worthy heel turn from Giovanni Ribisi, and some colorful sidekick play from Caleb Landry Jones and Lukas Haas. The film has good texture, and Kormákur capably mimics Michael Mann’s aesthetic, but the script ends up too formulaic. It’s an easy 109-minute watch, but you wonder what this cast could’ve done with meatier material. In any event, you could do worse.
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