Their first joint production in “The Finest Hours” and later on, “Hell or High Water,” Chris Pine and Ben Foster co-star again along with an uneven action thriller. The story of The Contractor is a familiar tale of double cross and revenge but it plays out through tense gun battles which are well executed by the competent actors. They do all they can to recover from the beginning’s fake overdramatic scenes before they pick up silenced automatics for the most violent part of the movie. This makes for a higher-octane pacing. Fans of action will not be disappointed.
Sergeant James Harper (Pine) is at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, training hard for his next tour abroad. A special forces soldier with three combat tours under his belt, he has been using drugs to help him heal his repaired knee. As a consequence, he fails a drug test which gets him an honourable discharge from the army. He therefore loses all his pension and medical benefits as well as being worried about PTSD by his wife Brianne (Gillian Jacobs). Their debts become unmanageable finally leading to this family’s financial ruinous situation. This reminds him too much of his father’s failures.
It is during this period that Harper approaches Mike (Ben Foster), an ex-commander who was also his best friend then but now working for Rusty Jennings (Kiefer Sutherland). What happens afterward is told in flashback because presently he does black ops for private security company run by Mike who promises Harper big money simply for participating in one mission: something really special happening soon in Berlin.
James Harper is depicted as a desperate family man throughout the first act of The Contractor. Throughout their conversation, they refer to guys who committed suicide after coming back home from Iraq war life had to offer them nothing anymore; thus proving that veteran suicides are heart-wrenching incidents still occurring today though there have been some improvements since then. It is one of the topics that are discussed within the film. But it all seems like expositional lip service, and so does the rapidity with which Harper is ejected from the military without any proper farewell. Too easily does he come to terms with his fate, when in fact a devoted soldier would have done more to fight for himself before leaving. There was no need for such scenes too many screenplays later where Jennings tries hard to convince him out of quitting, it just had to be made more realistic. A shady Kiefer Sutherland would ring anyone’s alarm.
The Contractor switches up from precision tactics into fierce combat modes. Tarik Saleh who is a famous Swedish film director specializing in music videos (Lykke Li’s “I Follow Rivers”) and documentaries has a good understanding of staging surveillance and heightening conflict. As soon as they identify the target person, Harper relies on watching this place while preparing to assault it with his teammates. Camouflaged likea predator about to pounce on its prey, he sneaks around through them as if hunting instead of fighting with an unknown enemy amongst which he must rely on camouflaging himself most often than not in order not be targeted by any counter measures put unusually massive terrorist cells) by police forces or other hostile groups in any given area.. This makes him look like perfect warrior according to Saleh but then again this changes drastically when we see some fantastic bloody firefights towards the end at movie; usually done using rapid somewhat jump cut sequences showing quick reaction shots alternating between different actors’ faces while firing off rounds during these battle scenes creating an impactful impression upon audiences due mostly lack dialogue exchange apart from occasional grunts growling sounds heard throughout these long lasting moments filled bloodshed explosion noise making audience feel immediacy). Yet another example of spectacular action scenes.
Chris Pine has amazing screen presence such that for most of the screenplay, he stands alone; playing a husband and father who is willing to do whatever it takes just so he can come back home to his family. He has never been more believable as an actor than when playing alongside Ben Foster, who always carries the weight of their screen time together as though it is his own shoulders they are resting on. Their interpersonal dynamics continue developing throughout this film, as seen in their previous works together. It doesn’t reach the bar set by “The Finest Hours” or “Hell or High Water,” but it still captures a fun and exciting action movie feel with good chemistry between its leads that makes worth checking out.
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