It’s ironic that for a movie that takes itself incredibly seriously, The Contractor ended up suffering from a hilarious case of mistaken identity when the bargain basement 2007 Wesley Snipes movie of the same name suspiciously experienced a surge in popularity the very same week the Chris Pine vehicle released in April of this year.
That’s not to say the 2022 version was a total bust, because it’s still capturing the imagination of streaming subscribers across multiple different platforms a full seven months on from its initial rollout. As per FlixPatrol, The Contractor isn’t just a Top 10 hit on Prime Video in 24 countries, it’s also the second most-watched film on Paramount Plus, as well as the ninth top-viewed title among iTunes subscribers in the United Kingdom.
Not a bad return for a remarkably standard and workmanlike militarized thriller that could only grab a 45 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, even if Chris Pine and the always-reliable Ben Foster make for a suitably engaging duo when it comes to both the dramatic and pyrotechnic aspects of the story.
Pine’s special forces operative is involuntarily discharged from the military, and finds himself inevitably drawn to some freelance work. However, his very first job goes sideways and sends him on the run to unravel a dangerous conspiracy that may reach the highest echelons of both the armed forces and government, forcing him to root out those who betrayed him before it’s too late.
It’s ideal fodder to while away a couple of hours, but we’d be surprised if anyone’s talking about The Contractor years from now.