The Contractor (Video 2007)

An ex-CIA agent is asked to take out a terrorist, only to realize he's been set up by his former employer.

Director:

Josef Rusnak

Writers:

Robert Foster (screenplay), Joshua Michael Stern (screenplay),

Stars:

Wesley Snipes, Eliza Bennett, Lena Headey

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wesley Snipes	...	James Dial
Eliza Bennett	...	Emily Day
Lena Headey	...	DI Annette Ballard
Ralph Brown	...	Jeremy Collins
Charles Dance	...	DCS Andrew Windsor
Gemma Jones	...	Mrs. Day
Iain Robertson	...	Cramston
Richard Harrington	...	Terry Winchell
Ryan McCluskey	...	Purcell
John Standing	...	Sir Anthony
Stanimir Stamatov	...	King
Miroslav Emilov	...	Harris
Velizar Binev	...	Beloit
Nikolai Sotirov	...	Ali Mahmud Jahar (as Nikolay Sotirov)
Peter Kerry Morgan	...	Newscaster

Storyline

Retired CIA Black-Ops hit man James Jackson Dial is living his life in seclusion on his ranch in Montana when he is offered the chance to redeem himself by his former employer, Jeremy Collins. A few years ago, Dial was seconds away from taking down notorious terrorist cell leader Ali Mahmoud Jahar when when his carelessness allowed Jahar to escape, marking his mission as a failure. Now, Collins wants Dial to eliminate Jahar, who has been captured and is now in the custody of the police in London, England. Provided with a safe house, passports, and an assistant named Terry Winchell, Dial is off to London to finish what he started years ago. Disguised as a priest, Dial gets in position in a church's bell tower across the street from the building that Jahar is being brought into. When Jahar is brought out of his transport truck, his head is covered by a jacket, leaving Dial without a clean shot. Not wanting to fail again, Dial patiently waits for his opportunity. Moments later, Dial ...

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Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | Framed | London England | Girl | Marksman | 

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Taglines:

The world's greatest marksman is now a marked man...

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

Bulgaria UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Shooter

Filming Locations:

Bulgaria

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

April Productions, Chaintron, RMA Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Biehn was scheduled to appear in this movie but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with Planet Terror.

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Goofs

When Cramston and James leave the airport in London, there is an emergency exit sign over the door which, oddly, is written English and Bulgarian.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jeremy Collins: Ali Mahmud Jahar. Remember him?
James Dial: [flashbacks]
Jeremy Collins: Of course you do.

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Connections

Featured in Bad Movie Beatdown: The Art of War II: Betrayal (2012)
discusses the previous Wesley Snipes and Josef Rusnak collaboration he reviewed

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Soundtracks

"Holding Out For More"
Written by Stephen Cohen, Jeremy Haffner, and Keith Larsen
Performed by Oedipus

User Reviews

Not if it ain't an action movie

Every film has a heart. Some hearts are more special than the others. But you are bound to get a wrong impression if you draw your inference without knowing where the heart is.

To the plebeian crowd, if Wesley Snipes is on the poster, that means some semi-mindless non-stop action, with a streak of silly humour once in a while, is coming their way. But Wesley never signed an agreement about that, did he now? This is not an action film, though you see some action in it.

First of all, it is a very low budget film, so don't go all tough and smart criticizing it. Those B-movies, which come to TV only late at night because other slots are for those blockbusters, can certainly not be measured against The Art of War or Blade. The Contractor is a simple, low budget film that shows a little girl's bond with an assassin, whose mission has gone wrong and who has fallen the prey of his own employers. While the action sequences and other things are inadvertently done, very special care has been taken of those moments that reflect the warmth of feelings. Lena Heady was not a necessary recruit for this film, her role any pretty face could play. But I like her, so I am glad she did it.

Some low budget, non-famous films sometimes leave lasting impressions. Maybe they fail overall in box office and audience poll, but sometimes there can be very heartfelt elements in such films. I watched it late at night and liked it for what it is. I was not disappointed for what it was not. Because if I wanted someone other film, I would watch some other film.

But of course, idiots have minds (and comments on IMDb) of their own.