The Contract (2007)

First Look The Contract (HD-DVD)
The only thing standing between an assassin and his target is a father who must protect his son. While on a hiking trip to reconnect with his son after the death of his wife, Ray Keene (John Cusack) stumbles into a nightmare scenario of paid assassin and ex-military guns-for-hire led by the mysterious Frank Cardin (Morgan Freeman). Product Description

 A Great Movie!
What a fantastic film! The Contract is packed with great action, breath taking scenery, and many brilliantly expressed comical lines. The dialog was very impressive between the characters which really draw you in, because it makes everything feel so real. I loved the beautiful underlying message between the father and the son. The growth of the characters, including Morgan Freeman's was very touching. I really enjoyed it! CONGRATULATIONS!
May 12, 2008

 Rote but watchable thriller with some good performances
I'm kinda surprised that names like John Cusack and Morgan Freeman would be associated with such a pedestrian film as this. Then again their names were the only reason I picked this up, so maybe the studio's ploy worked, and it's actually their performances that saved it from being unwatchable.

Cusack is having father/son issues with the teen after his wife passes away from cancer. In an attempt to devote some "quality time" and bond with his son they go on a camping trip in the Washington state wilderness. Unfortunately for them, rogue CIA spook Freeman happens to be en route to prosecution in that area when his mercenary buddies try to free him. The escape scenario doesn't go as smoothly as planned and Freeman ends up in the unwanted "custody" of Cusack (who just happens to be an ex-cop turned teacher) with the help of an errant handgun. In the middle of the nowhere they look to evade the trailing mercenaries and get to safety.

There are way too many implausiblities and cliches in the story to make this a good film (e.g., why wouldn't Cusack just take Freeman's advice and the gun, leave and not put his son in harm's way?). The meeting of the other hiking couple was totally unnecessary and felt tacked on just to try to add some drama at the last scene. The action was OK, but rote and implausible again. But at least we get some nice scenery and decent performances from the leads, so if you're fans of theirs, as I am, you may want to give this a rent. April 16, 2008

 Beautiful visuals mixed in a less than perfect dramatic action psychological thriller
There seems to be a lot of hate for this movie, which, like some others here, I don't understand. I don't claim this would be the best movie you've ever seen (hence the 4 stars here, rather than 5, and for some perhaps even those 4 stars are being generous), but I don't think it's that bad either.

Premise is simple enough with John Cusack's character trying to connect with his son and taking him out for a camping trip that just happens to have both of them crossing paths with an 'exterminator' (of humans) in the form of Morgan Freeman's character.

Much of the film was made in the Pacific Northwest and it helps to provide some awe inspiring scenery in the background. Some viewers would complain though that where that scenery is there should be more action or more dialogue. Personally I'm happy to watch the scenery and let the movie unfold. No, it's not that quickly paced, and yes, some things are telegraphed from what seems to be miles away (making things a bit too predictable), but the story was enjoyable enough to make me want to see it again.

I must admit, my purchase of the movie was somewhat inspired by Morgan Freeman being in the movie. Though there are plenty of movies and roles he's been in that I wouldn't go out of my way to see, his role here seemed to fit him nicely and I think he did well with the part he was asked to play. (There are movies he's been in that you couldn't pay me money to watch again, such as Driving Miss Daisy, yick!, and others that I just never cared to see...)

Rated R for language, female nudity, and violence. March 16, 2008

 Amazingly Poor
As we watched this movie, we kept asking ourselves outloud... what the heck are Morgan Freeman and John Cusack doing in this film? This movie's writing smells of a bad 1980s made-for-tv thriller. I can't imagine how two of the best actors in Hollywood could have paired up in a movie that I found so disapointing. In most cases, these guys would carry even the weakest of movies and, to a small degree they do here, but it's just too poorly written and produced to recover. The rest of the casting also seems way off - maybe they're good actors but they have all been caught in a pretty awful movie. Forget for a moment the bad writing and awkward dialouge, the post-production was the worst I've seen in a major movie in a long time. There is one scene where a helicopter crashes and I could swear I was watching an episode of Dukes of Hazzard or something - cheesey slow-mo crash! Oh well.
February 25, 2008

 Entertaining Action Flick
I thought this was a very good action film. Reminded me of CLIFFHANGER or DIEHARD in the woods. It had what I want out of an action movie-clever lines, quirky characters, plucky hero, interesting bad guys and good action scenes. I don't mind formula if it is done well and this was. I thought some of the plot twists were interesting. My wife even liked it. Not sure what the negative reviewers were looking for. I thought it was a very entertaining film. February 9, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...