Haunted by his failure to save his comrades, a depressed former special forces operator gets a chance for revenge when he gets a job as a security guard for a journalist interviewing the South American dictator responsible for his buddies’ deaths. That sounds like a late-career Denzel Washington/Antoine Fuqua gritty thriller; but it is, in fact, a comedy.
How to watch Freelance in New Zealand
Freelance is in New Zealand cinemas from November 23.
What is Freelance about?
We pretty much covered it! The action kicks off when the fictional country of Paldonia is wracked by a military coup, forcing our action man to battle his way through a country in flames. Again, we must stress: this is a comedy. This one comes to us courtesy of French action specialist Pierre Morel, who gave a generation of ageing male stars a new lease on life when he directed Taken back in the day. It’s also the feature writing debut of television screenwriter Jacob Lentz.
The cast of Freelance
John Cena, a man always happy to combine action with comedy, is our hero, Mason Pettits; Alison Brie is journalist Claire Wellington; Juan Pablo Raba is villainous President Juan Venegas; Alice Eve is Jenny Pettits, Mason’s wife; Marton Csokas is Colonel Jan Koehorst; and Christian Slater is Sebastian Earle, Mason’s boss.
Freelance trailer
What are the critics saying about Freelance?
“Nigh-universal derision” is not overstating the situation. There does seem to be a certain amount of sympathy reserved for Cena and Brie, both of whom are capable of far better, and who struggle stoically with a thin, cliched script and pedestrian action direction from Morel.
“Worse than Red Notice” might be the meanest barb that’s been flung out, but it does pique a perverse sort of interest. I mean, what could be worse than Red Notice? It feels like Freelance is aiming for a kind of ’80s throwback vibe. It also feels like they missed.
