‘Freelance’ plot half-baked

LOOKING back at it now, the fact that Juan Pablo Raba, a virtually unknown in mainstream Hollywood, is the highlight

of a movie that comprises big names like John Cena, Alison Brie and Christian Slater should have been the first red flag.

In fact, seeing Slater in the movie is proof that “Freelance” is not worth the reel the film was made on.

It has been ages since I heard that name (Slater), with my last recollection being the 1996 blockbuster “Broken Arrow”, alongside the incomparable John Travolta.

He has probably worked on many projects since “Broken Arrow” but none seems to have hit the mainstream media and there surely has to be a reason for this.

God, I hope this is not a sign that we might be getting a belated “Broken Arrow” sequel, some 27 years after the original, sometime in the near future.

But I digress.

Pitched as an action-comedy, “Freelance” fails on both accounts as the film is neither funny nor are the actual car chases, explosions and fight scenes captivating.

“Taken” director Pierre Morel should be ashamed that his name is associated with this film.

“Freelance” follows Mason Pettits (Cena), a retired Army Special Forces soldier who finds himself struggling with life.

Now a lawyer, Pettits gets a visit from an old army buddy Sebastian Earle (Slater), who persuades him to take what appears to be a lucrative and simply private job in which he escorts a prominent journalist Claire Wellington (Brie) on her trip to a fictional country, Paldonia.

There, Wellington has secured herself a one-on-one interview with the dictator of that country, president Juan Venegas (Raba), who has promised her snippets on his nation and

to dish the dirt on some Western countries.

Unfortunately, the two arrive in Paldonia just as a coup takes place, forcing Pettits to protect both his client and the dictator, whom he has a sordid history with.

If I am going to be honest, the story itself had plenty of promise and was only let down by the lazy writing and lack of imagination of Jacob Lentz.

Lentz is both the movie’s scriptwriter and co-producer. I think his overarching influence on the whole project is probably one of the key reasons the movie is such a huge flop both critically and commercially.

Why? You may ask.

Well, the film’s main plot is half-baked, for lack of a better word. Many plot points are left hanging.

The history between Pettits and Venegas is not properly addressed.

Pettitis was discharged from the army after suffering an injury during an assassination attempt on Venegas.

For the greater part of the movie, Venegas is blamed for that and we do not really get the animosity between the two parties, who both know each other from the jump.

There is also the fact that we do not really get a solid backstory on Alison Brie’s character, and the actual one-on-one interview is rather underwhelming.

Nothing groundbreaking is revealed during the interview, except a few snippets one sees coming a mile away.

Cena is not really given any material in which the wrestler-turned-actor can sink his teeth into, with his only contributions being a few doses of physical humour and kindergarten jokes.

The only character the writer seemed intent on exploring is Raba’s Juan Venegas, who comes off as a caricature of every notable villain in recent memory.

Venegas has the mystery charm of the late Raul Julia (M. Bison) from the 1994 hit “Street Fighter”, dresses in white like Kingpin from the “Daredevil” comic series and refers to himself in the third person like many notable movie characters.

To his credit, Raba pulls it all together and steals the show in every scene he appears in.

Both Brie and Cena put up solid performances but Raba is the real most valuable player of the movie. The 46-year-old South American actor does such a great job that he almost makes the film watchable.