Freelance

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In yet another title that has me searching for the answer as to whether I liked it, 'Freelance' struck me as a moderately enjoyable action/adventure flick that is probably more suited to being a streaming original than getting a big-screen release. It didn't do so hot at the box office, debuting way down the list at #8, and there is definitely some sort of "standard" feeling to it all that suggests why. The best way for me to describe it is that it's just "fine." Nothing in particular stands out as anything special, but nothing really makes it "suck" either.

Mason Pettits (John Cena) introduces himself with a voice-over describing his life as a would-be lawyer and family man and ditching that life for a life of action in the U.S. Army Special Forces. On one particular mission, he and his team are sent to the fictional country of Paldonia to assassinate a dictator named Juan Venegas (Juan Pablo Raba). The mission goes awry, however, and as a result, Mason is injured and medically discharged, made to pursue his lawyer life once again, and seemingly getting the short end of the stick when it comes to clients.

One day, a former Special Forces team member, Sebastian Earle (Christian Slater), offers him a chance to get back out there with a high-paying security job, protecting journalist Claire Wellington (Alison Brie) as she heads to Paldonia to interview the very man Mason was after when he was injured in the line of duty. He reluctantly accepts the job, as it pays very well, and he has a family to support, including his wife (who very much disapproves of the danger element involved), Jenny (Alice Eve), and his daughter (the reason Jenny's so disapproving), Casey (Molly McCann).

Upon their arrival in Paldonia, Mason and Claire meet Venegas and are shortly thereafter put under fire by a group attempting to assassinate Venegas, who is convinced they are being led by his nephew Jorge (Sebastian Eslava), who has hired a professional by the name of Colonel Jan Koehorst (Marton Csokas) to kill him. Soon, Mason finds himself protecting the same person he was meant to kill in the first place several years before. So, I've used this term a lot in recent reviews, but it's another "escort mission" type of movie.

I will credit the film for a few things, such as allowing Mason to maintain his loyalty to his wife during the mission. With anything like this, there tends to be sexual tension between the two characters, and it tends to be kinda old-fashioned. But Claire can certainly hold her own and is closer to Elena Fisher ('Uncharted') than Willie Scott ('Temple of Doom'), but I still wouldn't say she's necessarily a badass through this. She is often very irritating when acting smug and filming things with her phone non-stop.

But again, with some credit to the movie, Mason often plays the audience in these situations, which, in my opinion, gives it more leverage. The dialogue regarding Claire's often stupid decisions gets a little humorous. But another thing about this movie is that the laughs that I feel ought to be here with a John Cena/Allison Brie team-up weren't altogether there. Nothing here ends up being very laugh-out-loud funny, and it just brings me back to the film being a mild venture at best.

Ultimately, this one's okay if you're looking for something to watch with some action on a pleasant Sunday afternoon on your big-screen TV in the comfort of your living room. Nothing stands out as very good or bad about this to me either way, and it's possibly the most lukewarm I've felt towards a movie all year. So, in the end, it all boils down to a big "shrug" on my part because this is definitely one of those titles I can't recommend one way or the other. If you have time, check it out if you're curious. But I think this floated under the radar, even as a wide release, for a reason.

3/5

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