Mark Wahlberg Thriller Contraband Becomes a Netflix Hit

Mark Wahlberg has spent plenty of his career on the right side of the law, playing cops and other law-enforcement figures in movies like The Other Guys, 2 Guns, and The Departed. He is also comfortable portraying criminals, from a bank robber in The Italian Job to a man pulled into a dangerous world of crime in Four Brothers.

One of his lesser-known action thrillers puts him somewhere in between. In Contraband, Wahlberg plays a family man who has left his criminal past behind, only to find himself forced back into that world when his loved ones are threatened. More than a decade after its theatrical release, the movie has found a new audience on Netflix.

Contraband, the 2012 action thriller directed by Baltasar Kormákur, is currently the No. 5 most-watched movie on Netflix in the U.S., according to Netflix’s Tudum.

What is Contraband about?

Mark Wahlberg stars as Chris Farraday, a former smuggler who has tried to leave his criminal life behind and settle down with his wife and children. That plan falls apart when his brother-in-law gets into trouble with a drug lord, forcing Chris to return to smuggling to protect his family.

Chris heads to Panama with a crew to retrieve a fortune in counterfeit money, but the job quickly becomes more complicated than expected. He has to rely on the skills and criminal connections he thought he left behind while trying to stay one step ahead of the people who want the money and the people who want him dead.

The movie features a large cast, with Kate Beckinsale from Underworld as Chris’ wife, Ben Foster from Hell or High Water, Giovanni Ribisi from Saving Private Ryan, Diego Luna from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and J.K. Simmons from Whiplash.

Contraband holds a 50% score from critics and a 57% score from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. It remains a straightforward crime thriller that can find a new audience years after its initial release, particularly when viewers want a familiar star, a dangerous smuggling operation, and action sequences.

Source: Polygon