'Contraband': Intriguing personalities animate a so-so remake — 2 1/2 stars

Playing a reformed cargo smuggler sucked back into the game, Mark Wahlberg is the star of "Contraband," a fairly entertaining remake of the 2008 Icelandic thriller "Reykjavik-Rotterdam." And a reliable star he is. Audiences develop relationships with actors over time, through good scripts and bad; this one's neither good nor bad, exactly. But Wahlberg has the presence, the glower and the laconic line readings to guide us through a mess of pain, painlessly.

Michael Phillips

January 12, 2012