3/5 The Contract... Says you just have to show up... acting optional.
  by Julian Kennedy (St Pete Florida)
The Contract: 5 out of 10: Let me start by quoting Variety's review which easy sums up my feelings about this film better than I ever could. Scripters Stephen Katz and John Darrouzet don't inspire great expectations with their contrived setup, so it can't be said that what follows -- pretty much your standard-issue, pursuit-through-the-wilderness melodrama -- is, in the strictest sense of the term, disappointing. But it's more than fair to complain about the plodding predictability of a by-the-numbers scenario that, 30 years ago, might have served as the blueprint for a routine TV movie. (Think Darren McGavin in Freeman's role, then sub in Doug McClure for Cusack.)

There it is concisely; a predictable by the numbers thriller that went straight to DVD despite starring Morgan Freeman and John Cusack.

This is a remarkably average film. Morgan Freeman plays an old sardonic assassin. A bad guy with depth, education and possibly (could it be) a heart. In other words the usual Morgan Freeman role. Like Alan Arkin, Freeman has comfortable found a persona that gathers a steady paycheck. To Freemans credit, at least he is fun to watch and has fun with the role.

That certainly cannot be said of John Cusacks overly serious, charisma free turn as the recently widowed, and ex-cop single father. Cusack acts as if he is spending the entire movie working on a particularly troublesome bowl movement. Considering the lightweight proceedings around him, and co-star Freemans paycheck turn; this method acting madness seems out of place.

The plot summarized is Freeman get captured, escapes while in handcuffs, gets recaptured by Cusack on a father son bonding hike, then they all find themselves on the run with Freemans fellow assassins and the FBI in pursuit.

One strange development is the attempt to give widowed Cusack a love interest in the middle of the forest. Cusack and son run into a hot blonde, Calista Flockheart lookalike skinny dipping (attractive Megan Dodds) and her fiancé. Cusack somehow convinces them that he is an okay guy; even though he is in the woods with a gun pointed at a handcuffed, elderly black man.

The fiancé is a funny character. A San Francisco lawyer, who hate the wilderness, has an effeminate manner and wears (you cannot make this up) an ascot. What? Is the Mystery Machine parked nearby? Needless to say, he gets killed by a sniper to make room for Cusack. His fiancées reaction to his bloody death? meh.

Which nicely sums up my reaction to this movie.

3/5 Not bad if you don't have something better to do.
  by G. E. Williams (California)
Actually the acting by Freeman and Cusack isn't bad at all in this action thriller that goes way beyond believability. An ex-cop/High school gym teaching baseball coach out for a reconnecting morning hike with his errant teenaged son, turns into a crazy game of cat and mouse with a team of professional assassins.

If you want a moving drama, this probably isn't it, but if you want a fun popcorn movie to take a thinking break with, then "The Contract" isn't too bad of a choice.

3 ¼*


2/5 Coulda; Shoulda
  by Old wise one (Escondido, CA)
I have read all the previous reviews, unfortunately after seeing the film. I am amazed that anyone would give it more than two stars-it made no sense whatsover-and there was no ending or any attempt at disclosing a "plot". The presence of Freeman and Cusick saves it from being a complete negative, but one suspects they will do anything for a buck, Bad, bad writing. I'd ask for my money back, but I saw it for free and even that was too much.

1/5 A real stinker
  by David Q. Trinh (CA)
Just when I thought some movies couldn't get any worse, along came this sorry example of a movie. Why on earth would Morgan Freeman sign up for junk is beyond me. Don't buy. Don't rent it. Don't even borrow it. It's that bad.

3/5 I was expecting more...
  by TG (California, USA)
This movie kind of left me saddened because it didn't have a lot to offer. It was in the forest for almost the whole movie and the scenes like on the rock climbing in the rain was soooooo fake. Good movie in the end I guess. I liked the thriller and twist in it.