The Contract: Straight To DVD Movies Good or Bad?

Straight to DVD are usually three of the most dreaded words in the movie business. The three most common occurrences of three are as follows. Nearly any movie involving Steve Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme made after 1995 usually made the list until Van Damme decided to make a credible movie with JCVD (sadly he's bringing back Universal Soldier). The second is the crap Disney sequels including The Return of Jafar, Tarzan II, and Little Mermaid IV the Search For Fishsticks. Ok that last one doesn't exist but it probably will at some point. And finally the strange trend that has developed in recent years of straight to DVD movies involving A-list actors or former A-listers such as Cuba Gooding Jr., Antonio Banderas, and most strangely Morgan Freeman. After seeing the last category enough I got curious enough to grab this movie mainly because it involved John Cusack but I was curious how not so big budget movies stack up to the regular Hollywood fare.

Our story begins in D.C. where hired killer Frank Carden (Morgan Freeman) and his team prepare for a two part assassination plot. The first part of the job goes swimmingly but a freak car accident lands Frank in the hospital in Washington state and his team sets out to set him free. Enter Ray Keene and his troubled son Chris who are attempting to bond by going camping together in the forests. But as Carden's team strikes Carden and a U.S. Marshall tumble into a river and come across Ray and Chris. Despite Carden's pleas with Ray, Ray is a former policeman and finds himself unable to let the prisoner go. From there the band attempt to run from Carden's men and make their way to safety.

So first things first how does the movie stack up to standard Hollywood flare? Not incredibly well. The action sequences are relatively lackluster and there are some points where it's incredibly obvious that I'm looking at a set with a green-screen behind it. For instance, at one point Ray gets his hands on an automatic weapon and opens fire on a vehicle which is fine and good but both parties just sit there. The vehicle full of baddies even let's Ray reload and stays right in place. Also I understand that Ray isn't a military man but you'd think he'd be better at fighting and the just punching with one hand until someone passes out being a cop and all.

Also because the movie doesn't have a full out Hollywood cast there are some notable weaknesses in the cast when it comes to acting skill and I was more than happy to see two members of Frank's team perish because it meant they wouldn't speak anymore. However I did see the butler from Richie Rich in there so I thought that was cool.

The one thing that the movie does do well is that it actually takes time to tell a story and introduce the characters and their backgrounds before just throwing them into the woods with one another. Granted that story is very basic and not incredibly original but it's still an intriguing story for ninety minutes. However, even with its short length it might be too long because Ray and Frank have the same conversation about twelve times throughout the movie.

So it doesn't really measure up to Hollywood fare but by its own merits its an ok film. Besides it's always a pleasure to watch Morgan Freeman even in a crap movie. He's a little like Samuel L. Jackson in that way. John Cusack is also smartly cast as the everyman in an extraordinary situation. I will admit that I will pretty much watch anything that John Cusack is in so this is most certainly personal bias speaking.

But the reason that straight to DVD movies fail is because unlike even successful indie films their minimal production values also seems to mean that the film making will feel rushed. That's why you like Hollywood blockbusters that might not even be very good. Sometimes it's one action sequence that is just so impressive it rocks your socks off and other times the plot takes so many twists and turns that you can't help but wonder what is next. Sadly this movie does not have any of those so it just falls into the abyss of sameness. In this case this a film that is clearly trying to reel people in with an intriguing premise and two big names and hoping that curious and dumb people like me will purchase it from blockbuster for ten dollars.