Bullet Points: The Contractor (2007)
Like many action stars of the 1980’s and 1990’s, Wesley Snipes went from being in big theatrical releases like Demolition Man and Blade to smaller budget direct to video releases, like 2007’s The Contractor, seemingly over night…
- Just When He Thinks He’s Out: James Dial (Wesley Snipes, Passenger 57) is living his post C.I.A. life, when he gets an unexpected visit from his former boss, Jeremy Collins (Ralph Brown). Collins offers James a chance to right a wrong from his days in the C.I.A., he offers James a chance to take out Ali Mahmud Jahar, a terrorist who got the better of James years ago… something that haunts him to this day. So James leaves his horse and his peaceful life and heads over to the U.K. for one more mission…
- Mission Accomplished?: James’ liaison in London is Terry Winchell (Richard Harrington). The plan is, James will disguise himself as a priest and enter the church across the street from the courthouse where Ali Mahmud Jahar will be put on trial. Once there, James will make his way up to the church’s bell tower, where he will set up shop. Winchell will drop him off and be his getaway driver when the job is done. James gets a clean shot and takes it, eliminating his Ali Mahmud Jahar problem. But then things start to go sideways… Winchell gets hung up and their getaway is not a clean one. There’s a brief high speed chase with the authorities in hot pursuit of Winchell and James, it ends in a wreck. Winchell and James are both injured in the wreck, James manages to drag himself away from the wreckage, but Winchell is not as fortunate.
- The Heat Is On: Leading the investigation on the assassination of Jahar, is DCS Andrew Windsor (Charles Dance, The Golden Child) and DI Annette Ballard (Lena Headey, Dredd). But they aren’t the only ones… Windsor learns that the investigation is going to be a joint effort, along with Jeremy Collins and his team from the United States. Windsor is not a fan of this arrangement and something doesn’t quite sit right with him where Collins is concerned.
- An Unlikely Ally: A wounded James managed to get to Winchell’s safe house and he is about to get an unlikely ally in the form of a young teenage girl named Emily (Eliza Bennett) who lives in a flat in the same building as James’ safe house. Emily doesn’t know much about James (even his name) other than he was a friend of Mr. Winchell, who was always kind to her so she is returning the favor and assisting James who is obviously in need, bringing him food and water and bandages. When he is well enough to go out again, James reaches out to Collins, but something about that conversation doesn’t quite sit right with him.
- From Marksman to Marked Man: James decides he needs to get out of dodge… and he heads to the airport, but so does Windsor and his police force and Collins and his men. This is where the action picks up again and chaos ensues. Windsor actually gets to James first and right after James explains what he is doing in London and who it was that sent him… Windsor is shot dead by Jeremy Collins… officially making him the true villain of the movie. James manages to get away but Collins pins Windsor’s death on James. James Dial now finds himself public enemy #1 in London and especially with Windsor’s daughter, Annette Ballard. The odds definitely seem stacked against James Dial as the movie hits the home stretch, but at least he’s got Emily to help him.
The Contractor doesn’t break any new ground in the world of action entertainment, but it is a well done action thriller and one of Wesley Snipes’ better DTV efforts. Snipes reminds us that he is a natural born action hero and gets strong support from Lena Headey, Ralph Brown and Charles Dance. Eliza Bennett’s Emily is probably the character that gives The Contractor a little bit of uniqueness in a world filled with action thrillers about operatives who have been burned by their former employers.
Nothing unique here, I’m going to end this review like I always do, with some Bonus Bullet Points…
- Familiar Face: Sir John Standing has a small role in The Contractor. Standing has had a career that has spanned more than six decades. Some of Standing’s action highlights include 1976’s The Eagle Has Landed, 1980’s The Sea Wolves and 2005’s V for Vendetta.
- The Name Game: Not to be confused with 2013’s The Contractor starring Danny Trejo.
- Wrong Answer Quote: “A butt naked lady with six toes and a thing for chocolate.” – James’ response to Emily when she asks him to guess what she brought him. My question, was that six toes total, or six toes on one foot?
- Reunited: Charles Dance and Lena Headey would appear as father and daughter again a few years later in Game of Thrones.
