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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Sensei extended his streak last week. His streak at calling the correct #1 film now sits at eight straight weeks. That streak faces a tough test as three new releases could all take the top spot.

All calls this weekend are 4 day (Fri-Mon) to incorporate the holiday weekend:

1. Contraband ($24 million) – Up to a few weeks ago, this weekend appeared an easy win for “Beauty And The Beast 3D.” This is in light of the success “Lion King 3D” had last year. Things have now changed. With the success of “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” leading the way, action audiences are more likely to see “Contraband.” It also helps to have actor Mark Wahlberg star, which may attract audiences nostalgic for “The Italian Job” and hence lead to this surprise finish.

2. Beauty And The Beast ($20 million) – Sensei did very well predicting “Lion King 3D”’s run at the top, and the addition of the new short film “Tangled Ever After” will help this film be the prime draw for families throughout the weekend. “Contraband” will open very strong early though, making it tough to catch. “Beast” will close the gap, but we predict “Contraband” holds for the win.

3. Joyful Noise ($15.7 million) – Dolly Parton’s latest project is fun and lively, and the film’s musical pedigree will help its box office tremendously. Queen Latifah is a very good box office draw, and as long as this film stays positive (no political or controversial sucker punches), it will do very well this weekend.

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“Contraband” wastes considerable energy, and several likable performers, in taking us to a place we’ve visited far too many times before. Although the story concerns drug-smuggling, and is set in New Orleans and at the Panama Canal, this is a by-the-numbers heist flick of such predictability that at several points you wonder why it’s even unfolding.

An anticipatory indifference sets in right at the beginning, as we meet Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg), a one-time smuggler who’s gone legit and now lives happily with his wife Kate (Kate Beckinsale) and their two kids. When Chris is approached at a bar by an old underworld colleague and asked if he has thought about getting back into the crime business, we wonder…well, we wonder nothing: We know exactly where this is headed.

Then Kate’s younger brother Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) becomes involved in a coke-smuggling run for a Crescent City scumbag named Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi with a hide full of tattoos and a wheezy Looziana accent). When Andy is forced to ditch the drugs he’s carrying back in order to avoid a customs bust, Chris has no choice but to make a run of his own in order to raise enough money to compensate Briggs, who will otherwise kill all concerned.

Read the full review at Reason.com

Had Hollywood been in charge of casting I would have never been offered the role…a white man targeting an Asian organized crime syndicate. But Hollywood and the bad guys didn’t understand my “motivation.” If I sold myself as a criminal I got to stay out of the FBI offices for the duration of the case. That’s a better incentive than any two-picture deal with promises of Red Carpet awards. 

In the first few meetings I successfully convinced my targets I was “bad.” Thus began a three-year undercover assignment concluding with dozens of arrests for crimes involving surface-to-air missiles, counterfeit U.S. currency, fake Viagra, phony blue jeans, ecstasy, crystal meth, and an assortment of other contraband. But it all began with counterfeit cigarettes manufactured overseas. The bad guys were smuggling the illegal “name-brand” cigarettes into the United States. I guess the politically correct term would be “undocumented cigarettes,” but their activities avoided all kinds of federal and state taxes. Not only were the cigarettes fake but so were the tax stamps on each pack…made to resemble the stamps for whatever state where the fakes were to be sold. Their products were good. The packaging looked authentic and the tax stamps appeared real.  (more…)