Freelancers (2012) User Reviews

Good lord, this movie is bad

[edwjoolee · 4/10 · 27 August 2012]

OK, I recognized a few names in this movie: Robert De Niro, Forrest Whittaker, Dana Delaney, and 50 Cent. Based on the aforementioned names, I rented this movie. The bottom line is I got duped. The movie is below-average in every aspect:screenplay, acting,and directing. Basically, the whole film feels generic and half-assed. What is surprising is that the characters are all superficial and one-dimensional. This is to be expected from the likes of 50 Cent and some of the supporting characters, but from Robert De Niro and even Forrest Whittaker, it is incomprehensible.

In the past, the name Robert De Niro would have conjured up memories of incredible movies from the 70's and 80's such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Godfather 2,Mean Streets, The Deer Hunter, etc. However, Robert De Niro has not made a quality film in almost a decade. What happened? Has wealth and fame completely enervated his passion for acting?

Very Disappointing.

Fake Training Day

[buypluto · 5/10 · 14 August 2012]

Has great cast and what should have been a great movie, well wasn't. Felt forced and nothing really surprising. 3 teenagers who were arrested are set free and become cops. There was nothing unique about this movie. Cop turns bad who gets worse who wants to redeem his life.

50 cent plays the main character who is a criminal on the outside with a honest person trying to get out. Seems every step forward requires him to take 2 steps to the wrong side of the law of which he is more then willing to do. I guess they were hoping 50 cent would help this film, but to me he just doesn't have it and looks like a fish out of water still.

Not the worst movie I have seen.

Messy Story

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 23 April 2014]

In New York, three smalltime hoodlums are arrested and years later they become NYPD officers. When they are celebrating in a bar, Captain Joe Sarcone (Robert De Niro) summons Jonas "Malo" Maldonado (50 Cent) to sit at his table. Sarcose was the partner of Malo's deceased father and he invites Malo to join his team of corrupt cops. The rookie Malo teams up with the dirty Dennis LaRue (Forest Whitaker) and he begins his career of crime in the police department. But when his former trainer Lydia Vecchio (Dana Delany), whose husband worked at the Internal Affairs when he was murdered, shows evidences of his father's death to him, Malo returns to the side of the law to seek revenge against those that killed his father.

"Freelancers" is a movie with a messy story about corrupt NYPD officers. The lead character is a hoodlum that becomes a dirty cop, but comes back to the side of the law to revenge the death of his father and ends invited to join the Internal Affairs. Lydia has conclusive evidences against Sarcose and his gang, but they are not enough to arrest the dirty cop that is not under surveillance. The great cast is lost in a poor screenplay and a weak direction. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Assassinos de Aluguel" ("Hired Killers")

Frelancers delivers a generic cop thriller

[rgblakey · 4/10 · 13 September 2012]

Without any real success or box office backing Curtis "50" Cent Jackson has still managed to churn out a film career, with most of in straight to video action films. This time though he has aligned himself with some big star power in the form of Robert DeNiro and Forest Whitaker, but is it enough to deliver that extra punch to step this cop thriller or will it just be another forgettable addition to the genre?

Freelancers follow a young cop who joins in with a group of rogue cops led by his father's ex-partner. When the truth about his father's death is revealed it pushes him to finally make sure justice is served. This isn't a bad movie, but it isn't anything different than every other cop movie that has come along over the years. Jackson does a decent job here, but just doesn't have the chops to really sell the emotional aspect of the character. He works well for the action, but as soon as he has to deliver some sort of emotion it just comes off non-existent. Whitaker and DeNiro both pretty much phone this one in, but thanks to their amazing talent still manage to deliver some interesting characters. The story is pretty straight forward, but wants to try and deliver twists and turns where it is pretty obvious as to where it is all headed. In addition there are some aspects of the story that just come off a bit unbelievable in the system. There's some decent action moments here but nothing that really stands out to help push this along.

Overall this is a pretty generic delivery into the cop thriller, but thanks to the star power behind it at least feels a bit bigger than the straight to video release it got. If you are a fan of this genre or any of those involved give it a try, just don't expect anything all that new or original.

http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-dallas/bobby-blakey

complete disaster and disappointment

[jeparks1 · 1/10 · 21 August 2012]

Don't know quite where to start... I watched this only because Forrest Whitaker and De Niro were in it. Maybe one of them would take the money to be in such an inept film, but not both of them??? DeNiro's poor take on the role so much better played by Nicholson in the Departed was almost comical... Too often these days, DeNiro reminds me of a fading athlete - playing for a poor team with fading skills and no sense of pride left over. The only thing that was worse in this disaster was the lack of acting chops displayed by fiddy cent... I'm sorry, but this is darn near unwatchable, and anyone who wastes their time on this one will regret it. It's rare when a script is so poor that you have no empathy for the lead characters - I mean none. Please, dear fiddy... stick with a genre that suits you... After watching this, he does indeed have a face - and most importantly - a completely inexpressive one - made for radio.

The result of all DeNiro movies thrown into a blender

[Bob_the_Hobo · 3/10 · 25 October 2012]

It's hard to find fault with a Robert DeNiro movie, no matter the budget. We saw him pull of "Mad Dog and Glory" (at least I did) and we saw his chops as a comedian in the Fockers films. But lately, the legend is disintegrating, and here we find a man on auto-pilot, restlessly moping his way through a character he's played countless times before.

"Freelancers" finds 50 Cent as a young cop who's father is slain by bad cops when he is little. Now on the force himself, Fiddy finds himself taken under the wing of corrupt captain Sarcone (DeNiro) along with other dirty cops like Detective Leurie (Forest Whitaker). Will Fiddy find his father's killer? Will the film end in a shootout?

It plays out like a dream you have every night. You know what to expect, and can just about point to the screen when you can expect to see it happen. The script is cut-and-dry, listless, and unsure of if it's trying to make more a point than simply to promote its impressive cast.

I would say don't watch it, but you've watched this before, and you'll watch it again, though in a theater and with a couple zeroes added on to the end of the budget. For a low-cost, easy to shoot film, the cast is impressive and the acting is fine, but for the hour and a half spent sitting at home waiting to be surprised, I felt let down.

Not as bad as everyone says

[courobin · 6/10 · 5 November 2012]

Wanted to watch because of all the promotion I've seen. I've been following 50 Cent's career for a while now, and wanted to see how he did in this one. I watched it and it wasn't as bad as everyone is carrying on. I must admit, however, I did read some of the comments before I watched it, so I went in with very low expectations. The story line wasn't bad at all (nothing surprising, but not bad).

Watched it all the way through, and didn't want to turn it off. I have actually sat through way worst movies than this (cough** Paranormal Activity **cough), but don't go in expecting Oscar performance, just go in to watch the movie.

I do agree the acting is not the greatest, but again it was not the worst.

50 Cent and Robert De Niro starring in one movie...another sign of the coming apocalypse.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 5/10 · 16 August 2012]

In all fairness and truth, I was quite liking the movie at first. By all means this should had been one that would had been bad to watch from start to finish and one that I should have hated watching, since it stars Oscar winning actors Robert De Niro and Forest Whitaker opposite 50 Cent and Vinnie Jones. All alarm bells should go off when you hear this, especially when you learn that 50 Cent is playing the lead role. But in fact, the movie isn't being all that bad to watch and its first half especially makes this a decent enough, little, genre movie.

The first half of the movie is basically one about rookie training, in which rookie cops, one of them played by 50 Cent, get teamed up with an older and more experienced cop, who starts learning them the tricks and ropes. It all sounds very familiar, I know but it does work out interesting and entertaining enough and I was ready to really start liking this movie.

But then its horrible second half came along. Half way through it suddenly becomes a far more standard crime movie and not a very good one I'm sad to say. About half way through, exactly, there is a certain scene in the movie after which the movie starts to take a turn for the worse. The scene in itself already is being something ridicules and out of tone for this movie but everything that follows after that is about just as bad and silly. Suddenly 50 Cent and friends become hardcore crime fighters, trying to solve a case, which also involves dirty cops, while before that they were being naive and timid young cops, afraid of their superiors. It doesn't quite click all and the second half almost entirely ruined the movie for me.

It might seem strange to you, seeing 50 Cent playing a cop in this but it in fact is not a movie that glorifies the police corps at all. On the contrary really, since the cops are the biggest bad guys in this, who also form the biggest danger, do most of the drugs and have sex with prostitutes, whenever given the opportunity, all while being on duty. No, I don't think the makers of this movie have a lot of love for the police man and woman out there and 50 Cent also quickly finds an excuse in this movie to take off his uniform. It's a bit too over-the-top all at times, which obviously doesn't make this the most convincing and realistic genre movie out there.

I have always thought that 50 Cent is an horrible actor. He's even terrible in his own music videos! Now, I'm not talking about him as a performer of course but he, out of all rappers, always seemed to be the most unlikely one to ever have a decent acting career some day. Guess movies like this won't really help his acting career forward, since he also really isn't being all that impressive in this. He especially has some real difficulties in the scenes in which his character was supposed to show his emotions. And watching him sitting across Robert De Niro, having dialog with him, feels just wrong! They are not remotely in the same league and I was also quite surprised to see the likes of De Niro and Whitaker in this.

It's definitely not the worst movie you'll ever see but it's not one to get very excited about either.

5/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Not nearly as half bad as people here are saying, pretty good

[med77_99 · 7/10 · 4 September 2012]

So this movie is not perfect by any means, not the best movie out there, but also not as half bad as people on here are trying to say.

first, it has nothing to do with Training Day, and actually they are two different movies with very very minor similarities. this movie is actually more like Street Kings starring Keanu Reeves which deals with corrupt cops and one particular cop " 50 Cent " who starts to develop some conscious and digs into the mystery of who killed his father who was also a cop a long time ago.

he is taken under the wing of big time cop who was also his father's partner, played by Robert Deniro, who is a corrupt cop and a drug dealer, aided by his right hand played by Forest Whitakar.

the acting from those giants was excellent as usual, and really lifted this movie up for me, it is such a joy to watch Deniro acting. Now 50 Cents acting is average at best, but his acting sort of served his character's role in this film, he seemed cold and devoid of emotions which was quite a reflection of his character in the film, so it worked out well for him, but there is no denying his below average acting.

the story definitely has several weak points, and as one reviewer already mentioned, characters shift suddenly in their behaviors, nevertheless, i wasn't expecting a well crafted master piece of a film, but rather a nice little drama with big names and wonderful performances with a story that held my attention enough.

I might be biased here, because I'm a big fan of the police Drama genre like Cop land and this movie, but for what its worth, i thought this movie was better than Son of no one, which is also a police drama starring another legend Al Pacino and Channing Tatum.

I give Freelancers a 7

The director of Soul Plane proves he knows action films like he knows comedy

[movieman_kev · 2/10 · 26 August 2012]

New York police captain Sarcone (Robert DeNiro, who's frankly been on auto-pilot for what seems to be a decade now) seeks to train Malo (50 Cent)' the son of his deceased partner in his corrupt secret cabal of corrupt cop ways. He's partnered up with the equally corrupt LaRue (Forest Whitaker, who was MUCH better as Kavanaugh, a sanctimonious foil to Vic Mackey in The Shield) In fact 50 Cent's character in this kind of reminded me of Julien a tad from that aforementioned series. Not that the film is anywhere close to that glorious series, if anything quite the opposite this film sucks. Just that it made miss The Shield and wish it were still on the air.

My Grade: D

50 Cent is doing a good job

[alex_aka_nostunna · 9/10 · 5 October 2012]

I watched this a month ago and i had low expectations about this movie, though it starred big actors like DeNiro and Withaker. But This movie was great, everything from acting to environment. I highly recommend people to watch this movie even if there is a lot of critics about it. See it with low expectations or try to think in a more innovating perspective. Rappers gone actors is a major deal, 50 cent came from nothing and became something. I remember watching 50 cent for the first time a decade ago, the man has changed so much and he is more mature than Barrack Obama. "Get rich or die trying", well Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is rich...

not high-rated movie, but worth watching

[atsuhiro · 6/10 · 29 August 2012]

Nothing unique, really?

IMHO, whether or not 50 cent is bad cop or good cop is not certain until we get to nearly end. A cop cleansing bad cops finally turns into a bad cop -- or should I say replaces them of himself -- is quite new to me. To be honest, I had no idea how 50 cent set everything straight, not before the DEA guy helped him out but after in his new position. How can he handle all the other rogue cops with more history than his after all this mess? The plot is weak at this point.

There is a surprise in a scene where 50 cent has to choose a friend or his GF. There should be. And the surprise is not what I was expected. That is surprise! Not the best movie of course, but worth watching once.

freelancers or freeloaders!!!

[cksd-205-857328 · 3/10 · 16 August 2012]

OK for a Saturday evening film, when the washing up is done and all quiet in the house, this will keep you fit as you slide into a deep sleep without the aid of a milky drink and a chocie biscuit. Firstly Mr whitaker looks decidedly lost in this film not a role for the Last King of Scotland more like Mc duff! De Niro just there for the money and film credits (he has done 163 now) and Mr 50p made a good effort, he hit most of his marks and looked slightly interested in the unfolding story, but his facial expressions changing every 17.6 became most annoying put me off taking him to serious as a lead role (has he got some form of Palsy? in that case he did well)

Story was the same as previous stories, the only difference they were told better and with more conviction from the characters (yes Vinnie i mean you). Best part of the film, as when i got up to search for some more washing up. all work and no play.

Three reasons to pass on this film

[callinuxgeek · 3/10 · 15 August 2012]

1. Two Academy Award Winning Actors who are also directors star alongside an ex-drug dealer-turned-rapper/actor.

2. The production company is owned by the aforementioned E-DDTRA

3. The estimated budget is less than either of the two Academy Award winning actors normally get paid.

While not the worst film, I've seen. I could have made better use of my money. 50 Cent is a slightly better actor than he is a rapper, which is not saying much. The plot has been done many times before in much better films (Training Day, Deep Cover). Curtis: Leave the acting to actors and the rapping to rappers. You don't see Jay-Z or P-Diddy starring in action/drama films, do you?

A Dire Movie About Police Corruption

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 2/10 · 6 April 2017]

How good should this film have been(?) Starring Robert De Niro and Forest Whitaker, two great American actors, and 50'Cent Curtis Jackson who I've noticed acting well in other films, this should have been, at the least, a satisfyingly good film. So when I saw The Sony Movie Channel was airing it I thought I'd give it a view.

DAMN! This was bad! If I were any of the actors I wouldn't even consider putting this on my resume. Robert De Niro played the leader of a group of bad cops, Joe Sarcone, who recruits Malo, Curtis Jackson, and his friends. These had previously been thugs who had supposedly seen the light but were very quick to jump on board Sarcone's ship (so much for the good guys) Milo is paired with LaRue, Forest Whitaker, who is a drug addict and will let anybody off if he can score from them. Even though he's not openly racist he does have a hatred for whites. This is balanced off by a minor player in the film, Billy Morrison, played brilliantly by Matt Gerald (who is the only acting light in this dire movie), as he has a hatred for anyone not white and is very vocal and aggressive about it.

The only good cop in the whole film is Terrence Burke, played by Robert Wisdom. He tries to keep his distance from the others and even gets his rookie partner A D, Malcolm Goodwin, to help him train the kids in his area at football. The only community-minded cop in the city, it would appear.

Even when the cop who's pursuing Sarcone's mob, Robert Jude (played by Michael McGrady) tries to recruit Malo by telling him what really happened to his father, you get the sense that he isn't as clean as he should be.

This is a pretty depressing tale that paints the majority of police in a bad light stating that most of them are corrupt and on the take. If I were in this city I'd not ask a policeman directions because they would direct you down an alley, shoot you in the back and steal all your valuables.

The writer, L Phillipe Casseus, gives the audience a bleak tale of greed and depravity in the police force. This isn't a bad thing, it's been done before; though, it's been done better. The fault, I believe, lies with the director Jessy Terrero, who probably only got the job because he'd worked with Jackson before.

Most of the scenes are slapdash and so brilliantly set out. Jackson, most of the time, stumbles around the sets without an idea of what his character is about. There is one hell of a lot to Malo and giving the role to a newbie, without proper direction, was a bad decision.

De Niro is at his shouty best here; stomping around, hitting and shooting things. Even though it's nice to see him go berserk he just does it too much - poor guy must have needed some lockets afterwards to soothe his throat.

Forest Whitaker is brilliant as the drug-addled cop... so good that he actually does appear to have been on something. It was probably needed to get through this rubbish with most of his sanity intact. But it really didn't help the movie any, it just made his lines seem slurred and indistinguishable.

If you like any of the actors or cop drama's then I would recommend you to stay away from this pile of diatribe.

There is not much content in this

[kluseba · 4/10 · 8 September 2012]

This movie is an overall quite entertaining and mostly fast paced action thriller that though lacks of depth. The story simply features too many stereotypes and is therefor sometimes even mildly amusing even if this surely wasn't the intention of the makers of this b-movie.

The film is about three crooks that get out of prison and get to work in the corrupt New York City Police Department. Soon, they get involved in the local crime scene and must learn how to survive in tough circumstances where nobody's left whom they can trust in. At the same time, the main character portrayed by a weak but not completely bad Curtis James Jackson III wants to resolve the secret of his father's assassination that he witnessed as a child.

The problem with this movie is that it almost has no clear guiding line and some events happen without any logical reason whatsoever. Sometimes, the characters rapidly change their moods and appear almost schizophrenic which is very odd. Apart of a slightly stronger and even quite entertaining ending, at least three quarters of the movie go straight to nowhere or are highly predictable. Most of the actors and especially the cop roles are simply not credible at all and even happen to be quite ridiculous. Sometimes, the movie just feels like a longer 50 Cent video clip with senseless violence, gratuitous sex, a very minimalistic story line and some cameo appearances by a couple of good actors such as the strong Robert De Niro or the now deceased and surprisingly convincing actor Pedro Armendáriz Junior where one ends up asking oneself why these gifted guys are starring in such a bad movie.

In the end, there isn't much interest in watching this film. Especially the story is quite random and predictable. The low budget flick features almost more shots of nocturnal New York City every ten minutes that are taken from a plain than gripping action or suspense scenes. The only reason to watch this flick are the solid appearances of Robert De Niro as well as Pedro Armendáriz Junior or if you simply are a big fan of 50 Cent. Objectively seen, his acting is of a rather average quality and lacks of emotion and quality but he surely has a quite cool image and mostly promotes himself and his music in this movie. You can grab this flick at a cheap price for a loan if you have not much else to do and want to switch your brain off for one hour and a half but apart of that there definitely isn't much in this.

"Training Day" Times Three!!!

[zardoz-13 · 7/10 · 7 May 2014]

Although I'm not a big fan of movies toplining Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, "Freelancers" qualifies as an above-average, but formulaic crooked cop melodrama. Basically, director Jessy Terrero's thriller aspires to be "Training Day" multiplied by three. Robert De Niro, Forrest Whitaker, Dana Delany, Vinnie Jones, and Pedro Armendáriz Jr., co-star and provide a semblance of gravitas. Before its 96 minutes elapses, this amoral, complicated chronicle takes some sordid turns with one of the three biting the dust and "50 Cent" getting his hands dirty along the way. "50 Cent" casts himself as the son of a murdered N.Y.P.D. Detective Daniel Maldonado (Andre Royo of "Red Tails") who died in an explosion before his eyes. Talk about a traumatic experience to live down! Eventually, the fatherless Maldonado ("50 Cent") and his two chums, A.D. (Malcolm Goodwin of "Leatherheads") and Lucas (Ryan O'Nan of "Eat, Pray, Love"), wind up behind bars as adolescents but they are released.

Years afterward, an official, Lydia Vecchio (Dana Delany of "Tombstone") makes it possible to the trio to enter the Police Academy. No sooner have the threesome graduated than Malo finds himself up to his ears in police corruption with Captain Joe Sarcone (Robert De Niro of "Midnight Run") collecting payoffs and scamming criminals. Things turn sour quickly for our single black hero and his one white buddy Lucas goes berserk with his new-found power as a cop. The three of them learn about life as it is when Sarcone dispatches them to deal with a tough guy named Sully (Vinnie Jones of "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels"), but he doesn't get much screen time. He informs our heroic trio about Sarcone's boss, Gabriel Baez (Pedro Armendáriz Jr. of "License to Kill"), who have been importing product into the Big Apple for 20 years. The farther that they go, the deeper our heroes find themselves in the shadow of the proverbial 8-ball. Happily, "Freelancers" doesn't wear out its welcome. Nothing in it is particularly original, but Terrero generates some suspense. He also tosses in a surprise or two. The stand-off scene is top-notch with the men in blue intervening in a showdown between gang bangers. As the chief protagonist, "50 Cent" generates little charisma as the son of the slain detective. De Niro is appropriately slimy, and Whitaker is believably belligerent. Delany has fewer than five scenes and Jones isn't give enough time to make a solid impression.

Interestingly enough, "Freelancers" was lensed on location in Louisiana!

A true Frankenstein's Monster of a movie

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 15 September 2016]

CROSSFIRE wasn't quite the dog of the film I was expecting but it's certainly no classic and it only barely gets there as an average and acceptable watch. There are two major problems with this production which drag it down and the first of those is lead actor Curtis Jackson, better known to the world as rapper 50 Cent. Jackson is no actor and is as wooden as they come, so watching him attempting to convey any emotion apart from the most basic happy/sad expression is a real chore and quite embarrassing in places.

The second problem is the familiarity of the material. CROSSFIRE feels like a Frankenstein's Monster of a movie, made up of bits and pieces from TRAINING DAY, RAMPART, STREET KINGS, and at least half a dozen others. Heck, Forest Whitaker is here and playing nearly EXACTLY the same role as he essayed in STREET KINGS. Despite these problems, CROSSFIRE is occasionally thrilling in places and there's a lot of involved material to fill up the running time. Robert De Niro is barely in it but at least he doesn't embarrass himself and there's a nice minor part for Dana Delany. While I enjoyed CROSSFIRE in places I do feel that with a better lead actor and story it could have been something truly great rather than just average.

Freelancer is a waste of even a bad time.

[rwilkins46 · 17 August 2012]

I will make this short, well at least ten lines short.

A film about the NYPD should have real NYPD uniforms and patches and cars because the audience will know the difference.

A film about the NYPD should have actors acting like real NYPD cops because the audience, especially real cops will know the difference.

A film about the NYPD should at least be filmed in New York unless its starring Gene Hackman and is titled French Connection II (which still kinda sucked) because New Yorkers know the difference between New York and everywhere else.

Acting is all about truth for me. From the onset,this movie had no truth and should, in my opinion have no audience.

Not so bad

[gianmarcoronconi · 6/10 · 16 December 2023]

This is not a real review, it should be understood more as a collection of impressions on the film.

Fairly good action film that manages to convey the idea of the corrupt police well at least in the initial part because in my opinion the ending is a bit forced and therefore a bit surreal because the way in which everything ends makes some characters seem too stupid and naive and others too intelligent. So the film is certainly entertaining and if we are talking purely about action and tension generated by the scenes then the film is very, very nice but if you look at it in its overall value then it has too many problems to be considered a really good film.

Elvis was a better actor...

[jimlacy2003 · 3/10 · 24 August 2012]

This movie despite Robert De Niro and Forest Whitaker just plain stunk!

My 5(0) cents worth about it: It actually started out pretty interesting. Maybe a bit stereo typed. Such police genre movies usually are and that usually doesn't make them any less entertaining. Throw in an A+ for female nudity. But then the movie took a turn for the worse. About the time you realize there is really something rotten with it. To a point past just boredom, past annoyance, into a nauseated grab for the remote to kill it ASAP.

The problem is unequivocally clear, 50 Cent's acting is just atrocious. The words: Horrible, lifeless, unbelievable, inhuman, stale, robotic and dry come to mind. He might be a successful rapper/entertainer, but an actor he ain't.

One of the worse scenes was when "Malo" went to shake down a rival thug. The stereotype hang the guy out the window by his feet type scene (that we've all seen at least three or four times already). It was plainly unbelievable and lifeless. And it was obvious they had to do some real creative editing for a few seconds in attempts to hide 50's horribly bad action performance.

While watching this movie a parallel between Elvis kept coming to mind. With all due respect to the King, his first few movies were great but look at the period when he was contracted to just crank them out. This movie is comparable to those, okay probably worse, I'd rather watch "Fun in Acapulco" five times over then finish watching this one just once.

Skip it unless you enjoy the sensations of projectile vomit and wanting to pluck your eyes out in disgust.

What a trio, 50 Cent, De Niro and Forest s2...

[RosanaBotafogo · 7/10 · 19 November 2022]

After the murder of a police officer in New York, his son Malo decides to follow in his father's footsteps within the police force. However, he soon encounters his father's former work partner, a devious man who sets out to test his loyalty and respect. Gradually, the truth about Malo's father's death begins to unravel.

Forest Whitaker s2... A portrait of corruption within the American police department, but a malady that expands globally, unfortunately a sad Brazilian reality, added to that the marginalized population, mostly black, who exposes in the flesh a one of the greatest evils of humanity, prejudice, racism, xenophobia and the like that afflicts humanity, but with a happy ending... What a trio, 50 Cent, De Niro and Forest s2...

full of holes

[sandro2020 · 1/10 · 31 March 2013]

a movie that borders on the ridiculous, the character development's believability relies on a stupid audience to begin with, it is not rooted in any believable milieu and some of the scenes are ridiculous. So disappointing to see De Niro and Whitaker make appearances in such a poor quality movie, did they lose a bet or something?

I think 50cent likes the idea of himself as a man of depth that his characters try to represent but he loses credibility with every movie that he appears in.

Count the gunshots and picture the holes it would make in a script and you have a pretty good representation of how tight this movie script was.

Leave it on the shelf if you see it in a DVD store.

Curtis Jackson can't hold a film.

[dasa108 · 5/10 · 10 December 2022]

The strength of this film is found in the secondary cast who support a film with pretentions but whose main weakness is the lack of charm and dramatic capacity of Curtis Jackson. When someone is good at something they will always be and that is perfectly visible in people like Whitaker, De Niro or Pedro Armendáriz Jr. Who had his swan song in this film. With tense and well-directed moments, the film's tone tends to fade at the end, where the entire weight of the film falls on Jackson, who is very limited to carry out a script that he could and should have been better. If it weren't for the secondaries it would be a bad movie.

Terrible script, bad movie

[estebangonzalez10 · 3/10 · 18 August 2012]

Freelancers has some great actors, but really falls flat due to a poor script and terrible characters. How they got Robert de Niro and Forest Whitaker to sign on for this project is beyond me. Whitaker actually gives a pretty good performance considering the material he had to work with. The film tries so hard to be Training Day, but it just reminds us how unique that movie really was.

Freelancers is without a doubt the worse movie I've seen this year and it's not worth writing anything more about it.

I give it 3 out 10 thanks to Forest Whitaker, but 50 Cent should really stick to rapping.