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Contraband | 2012 | R | 3.7.10

A man (Caleb Landry Jones) smuggling drugs for a drug dealer dumps the merchandise overboard when the ship he is on is boarded by authorities. The drug dealer does not take his actions lightly and so he ends up in the hospital and his partner is killed. The smuggler's brother-in-law (Mark Wahlberg) promises to make a run in order to have the debt forgiven. Also with Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, Lukas Haas, Diego Luna and J. K. Simmons. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur. [1:50]

SEX/NUDITY 3 - A husband and his wife kiss while dancing. A husband and his wife kiss and hug. A husband and his wife kiss several times. A husband and his wife hug. A man tries to kiss a woman a couple of times and she slaps him in the face and shoves him away.
 A woman undresses for bed (we see her wearing panties and a camisole), her husband does the same (he is seen bare-chested and wearing boxer briefs) and they lie in bed together and snuggle. A man punches a woman in the stomach, holds her down on a counter, caresses her clothed buttocks and her back and threatens her.
 A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage and bare shoulders. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage in several scenes. We see a poster of a woman in a suggestive pose and she is seen wearing bikini panties (her bare back and shoulders are seen). A man lifts his shirt and we see his bare abdomen, his back and part of his chest. A man is shown wearing a tank T-shirt and boxer shorts.

VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - Several armed men open fire on an armored car, they blow the door open and shoot the men inside the car; we see blood spurt with each strike, the men collapse to the ground and one man falls against the window of the van causing the passenger to panic (we see a smear of blood on the window).
 Police open fire on men robbing an armored car, the robbers fire back and we see several men and several officers struck (blood spurts and they fall to the ground). A man driving a truck is shot in the head (blood sprays) and the truck crashes. A man driving a truck is shot in the neck (blood pours from the wound); he speeds and crashes the truck and then slumps over the steering wheel (presumably dead, but he later holds a gun on another man and tells him to take him to the hospital).
 An SUV slams into the side of a car where two men are sitting; the car tips on its side and we hear the men yelling (we see one of the men in the hospital with bloody cuts and bruises on his face and we hear that the other man died). Two men in a van drive in front of an oncoming armored truck, the truck slams into the van, the van flips over and we hear the two men inside yelling as the car overturns (they are seen OK later).
 A man drives a car through the front window of a shop, the glass shatters, a woman inside runs, the man gets out of the car with a gun, grabs the woman, slams her head into a mirror breaking it (we see blood on the woman's head and the mirror) and then holds a gun to her head and threatens her.
 A man forces a bathroom door open, and a woman on the other side falls back and hits her head hard on a counter; we see blood smeared on the cabinet behind her and the man's hand when he checks to see if she is OK (it is implied that she is dead). A man forces his way into a house, a woman runs away and grabs a knife, the man punches her in the stomach and holds her down on a counter, he caresses her clothed buttocks and her back and threatens her; another man with a gun threatens two boys in the other room, and one boy smacks the gun away and it discharges (no one is shot).
 A cement mixer pours cement into a hole where a woman wrapped in plastic has been placed; another man stops the proceedings and takes the woman out (she is seen OK and in the hospital later). A man breaks a car window, pulls the driver out of the car and punches him several times until another man shoots a gun in the air and points it at the attacker (we see the attacked man with blood on his face). A man punches another man in the face several times and throws him into shelves and other furniture (we see his bloody nose). A man opens a door and holds a gun to the face of another man, and they argue; the man outside the door, grabs the man with the gun, throws him down stairs, punches him and presses a gun in his nose (we see blood on and in his mouth).
 A man on foot is chased by a man in a truck, and the man tries to climb a fence but is unable to (he's not harmed). A man throws another man on the floor, he yells at him and shoves him, and he pulls his hair and shoves him again.
 A man wraps a presumably dead woman in plastic sheeting, places her in the back of his truck and dumps her into a hole at a construction site. A dead man (we see a lot of blood on his shirt from a gunshot wound to the neck) is thrown out of a moving vehicle and we see him hit the pavement and roll.
 A cargo vessel approaches a port, the ship will not slow down, men on board scramble to make it stop, is bumps into the pier and several of the cargo containers fall off and crash onto the pier (no one is harmed), spilling their contents (it looks like grain). Police boats and helicopters surround a cargo vessel, they board it and search for contraband. Police boats and helicopters surround a ship and a man inside panics, fills a bag with drugs and dumps them over the side.
 A guard dog barks and snarls and pulls against his leash as two men walk by. A wolf paces anxiously in a cage and we see a few dangerous-looking snakes in other cages. A cargo container is opened, we hear rats squealing and the men opening the container recoil and exclaim.
 Several men with guns surround two other men and one threatens to "blow your brains out." A woman yells at a man for driving her two children after he had consumed alcohol. A man yells at another man and threatens to throw him overboard. Two men yell at each other and argue about a debt.
 A man is closed into a storage space on a cargo ship and left there (we see him OK later). A man visits his father in prison. A man puts a gun in his belt and goes to talk to another man. A man accidentally falls off a small boat (he's OK).
 A man threatens another man. A man says, "I've heard stories that he cuts people's heads off." A man says about another man, "He tried to smash another guy's head in with a cinder block." A man says, "They're gonna kill me." A man says, "They're gonna torture me." A man says, "I remember throwing up on her shoes." Men are shown seated in a circle and discussing their addictions. A man tells another man, "He will eat you."

LANGUAGE 10 - About 107 F-words and its derivatives, 1 sexual reference, 46 scatological terms, 15 anatomical terms, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (stupid, idiot, dumbest, brat, dumb), 1 derogatory term for the Irish, 1 Spanish slang term that is not translated, 2 religious profanities, 6 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A man snorts cocaine, a man samples drugs that have just been smuggled, and we see a large quantity of drugs wrapped in packages. People are shown drinking beer, wine and hard liquor at a reception, people drink beer in a bar, it is implied that a man is a recovering alcoholic, a recovering alcoholic is shown drinking alcohol in a bar, men drink beer while on a cargo ship, people are shown drinking alcohol in a bar, and we see open beer bottles on a table near where a man is snorting cocaine. A few men smoke cigarettes in several scenes and a man smokes in many scenes on a cargo ship.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Smuggling, drug smuggling, counterfeit currency, family, betrayal, drug dealing, legitimate business, espionage.

MESSAGE - We do things for family that we wouldn't ordinarily do.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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