Freelance is a surprisingly intelligent and even “woke” movie that manages to mention Hannah Arendt in the middle of what in another movie would have just been a mindless chase scene. Not that it had any chance of winning a Golden Bear at the Berlinale, like, for example, Ixcanul, Guatemala’s first entry for an Academy Award.
But if you want a popcorn movie that gives you a little food for thought after the end credits have rolled, Freelance might just be the ticket.
Just as I underestimated this movie, the three main characters in this movie underestimate each other. John Cena plays Mason Pettis, a Special Forces veteran who has reluctantly settled into a boring middle class life with a wife and daughter. Pettis makes a living as a lawyer fighting small cases for dumb clients.
Then Sebastian Earle (Christian Slater), another Special Forces veteran, offers Pettis an opportunity for a special assignment as bodyguard for disgraced journalist Claire Wellington (Alison Brie) as she travels to Paldonia for an exclusive interview with Dictator Juan Arturo Venegas (Juan Pablo Raba), who calls himself “president.”
Wellington claims to be an idealist, but also understands that this one-on-one with the infamous dictator could rehabilitate her career, and save her from the drudgery of pitching softball questions to celebrities in their mansions.
Wellington thinks Pettis is just a big, dumb guy, but he soon shows himself to be well-read and able to think quickly. Pettis actually tells Wellington that she should read Hannah Arendt. That might be good advice for some real life journalists.
The Origins of Totalitarianism and On Violence are just two of the books by the German American philosopher Wellington could read, but Wellington is quite impressed that Pettis even knows about Arendt in the first place.
Venegas is not just another blowhard dictator to Pettis, though Venegas certainly does his utmost to live up to that reputation. Pettis holds Venegas personally responsible for the deaths of some of Pettis’s Special Forces brothers, though of course Pettis understands that Venegas himself did not physically fire the bullets.
The whole job for Pettis, “a milk run” as Earle characterizes it, is to accompany Wellington to Paldonia for her interview with Venegas, and bring her back. Now, if something unfortunate were to happen to Venegas after Wellington interviews him, that would be just fine, Earle suggests.
Pettis is reluctant to engage in mercenary work. But Earle’s offer of $20,000 for this one assignment sure is more appealing than helping some dumbass who paid a $500 retainer wriggle out of paying the phone company’s bill for calling a bunch of 900 numbers.
“Paldonia” sounds like the name of a fictional European country, but this fictional country is supposed to be in South America, perhaps sharing a border with Colombia (which provided some locales to stand in for Paldonia).
Upon arriving in Paldonia, Venegas gives Pettis no reason to think any better of him. The dictator acts overly familiar with Wellington and cracks a juvenile joke suggesting Pettis has a petite penis. But even then, there are indications that Venegas knows more than he lets on.
Venegas and Wellington haven’t been talking for long when an attempt on Venegas’s life almost succeeds. It is only because of Pettis’s quick thinking that Venegas survives. But Pettis saved Venegas only because of Wellington. Now Pettis just wants to exfiltrate Wellington and leave Venegas to fend off further assassination attempts by himself.
Instead of Earle’s helicopter, some other helicopter, an unfriendly, shows up at the landing zone, forcing Wellington and Pettis to run. Venegas actually helps Wellington and Pettis escape to an Incan village.
The unfriendly is also unfriendly to Venegas. Maybe there’s some imperialist reason people want Venegas dead? Maybe Pettis has figured Venegas all wrong? Maybe the ones who want to kill Venegas are the real villains?
Freelance runs 108 minutes. The movie’s dialogue is mostly in English with lots of subtitled Spanish and a little bit of Quechuan.
I give the movie ★★★★☆. I don’t like the prologue with voice-over, and the ending allows viewers to think that John Cena’s character has not really learned anything from his experience in Paldonia.
I give the DVD ★★★☆☆. I deduct a full star from the rating I gave the movie for the DVD not including special features, aside from the trailer, even though that’s the rule rather than the exception these days.
Freelance is rated R for language and violence. I’m kinda surprised the MPA didn’t make a big deal of the scene in which two men and one woman are naked after a shower. I suppose the woman being in the middle made it palatable for the MPA.
P.S. Watching Freelance convinced me to give Ixcanul another chance. Maybe I write a review of Ixcanul later on. Also, I’ve been working on a review of Free Guy, which for some reason I can’t quite explain, is taking me very long.