This weekend’s new action film “Contraband” might be 90-plus minutes worth of Deja View.

Mark Wahlberg stars as a retired smuggler forced to take on “one last mission” to save “his wife and kids” from “an out of control” thug, but when said mission “doesn’t go as planned” he’s forced to “save the day” by “any means necessary.”

“Contraband” might win some sort of green award for such diligent recycling, but with a better than required cast the film nicks our pleasure centers just enough to recommend it.

Wahlberg clearly isn’t taxing himself here, but he makes his character’s heroics feel grounded enough to stop any snickering. Or most, at the very least.

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Stop us if you’ve heard this movie synopsis before.

A crooked L.A. cop is his own worst enemy, treating suspects like convicted criminals and drinking himself into a near-daily stupor. Oh, and he stumbles from one woman’s bed to the next, never lingering long enough to leave so much as an indentation on their mattresses.

Woody Harrelson turns every cop cliché on its ear in the blistering new drama “Rampart.” But as good as Harrelson is, and he’s certainly worthy of Best Actor buzz, it doesn’t make the film’s unrelentingly dour tone any easier to swallow. Seeing the worst of humanity in crisp police blues is a potent experience until we sense the film has little interest in sharing anything else about the human condition.

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Near the beginning of “The Mechanic,” a man dives into his indoor pool and starts swimming. Armed guards surround the man’s home. There are even people working nearby the pool who watch the man swim. It doesn’t matter. After spotting something underwater, the swimmer is attacked by a hired assassin who had infiltrated the man’s fortress.  The assassin clearly knows how to get the job done. He’s had plenty of practice learning the skills that have made him a sought-after “mechanic.”

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According to this story,  a “mechanic” is a paid assassin and Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a great one. Aside from his work in the pool, Bishop has handled plenty of tough assignments. “Pulling a trigger is easy,” Bishop notes calmly near the beginning of the story. He’s spent much of his life finding ways to get to his “marks” and killing whoever his boss asks him to.  

The newest target Bishop is given is an old friend and a fellow assassin named Harry (Donald Sutherland). Bishop is hesitant about the assignment and meets with his boss to determine why Harry is being targeted. Harry has betrayed the team, Bishop is told. After Bishop decides whether or not to accept the assignment,  Harry’s son Steve (Ben Foster) approaches him and asks him about his work. Steve wants to enter the family business. Bishop reluctantly accepts him as an apprentice and Steve quickly becomes comfortable with the job. (more…)

We debated whether to rank “The Messenger” as “abhorrent,” but there are some lightly positive things about it. The more we thought about this movie after seeing it, however, the more the bad content in it stood out and annoyed us. 

Basically, the movie is about a sergeant wounded in the Iraq War who gets assigned to notify the next of kin of recently killed soldiers. Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery, played by Ben Foster in a star-making performance, is assigned to fellow officer Tony Stone, played by Woody Harrelson (also excellent), a recovering alcoholic who has never really seen action. Cynically, with a touch of sarcastic humor, Tony tries to show Will the ins and outs of performing this onerous duty. Even so, both are surprised by some of the reactions they get. One father angrily spits at Will when Will gives him the news about his son’s death.  (more…)