Mason Pettis is having a difficult time.
There’s no question that he loves his wife, Jenny. And time playfully spent with his sweet and loving daughter, Casey, is the highlight of his day. But … most of his day is depressed and dark, not high and light.
And that depression is driving his wife away and making everything miserable.
You see, Mason has always wanted a purpose. And he had that sense of meaning serving with the Army Special Forces until a horrible disaster killed his whole crew and left him with an injury that ended his career.
Now he’s a small-time (and pretty bad) lawyer with a profound understanding that he was meant for something else.
Then an old friend shows up. Sebastian Earle was in the Army, too. But when he left the service, he went on to start a private security firm. And now he has an offer for the unhappy Mason. It’s an easy gig, Sebastian assures him.
All Mason has to do is tag along with a pretty journalist down to a small backwater country called Paldonia, so she can interview that republic’s notorious dictator, Juan Venegas. Then it’s back home with $20 grand in his pocket.
Mason isn’t excited about the idea, especially since Paldonia was where his helicopter went down and his fellow soldiers were all killed. For that matter, Venegas was the guy they were all sent to take out. But since Mason and his wife are now semi-separated anyway, the former soldier grits his teeth and heads out for his $20,000 easy gig payday.
However, easy gigs aren’t always as easy as they’re supposed to be.
Just after Mason and his charge, reporter Claire Wellington, touch down, rebel forces and outside mercenaries swarm in. And after Venegas’ men are all killed in the coup, the only gunman standing between Venegas and his killers is Mason.
Kinda ironic, that. Well, he wanted a purpose.
Mason has allowed his depression to negatively influence his life and nearly ruin his marriage. But at his core, he’s still an upright and honorable man. And that plays out in the choices he makes. He repeatedly puts himself in danger to protect and rescue Claire and Venegas. (Even though he’d rather not in Venegas’ case.) And when Claire approaches Mason seductively at one point, Mason pushes back and refuses those advances because of his commitment to his wife, Jenny.
In fact, Mason’s exposure to the possibility of dying helps drive home the truth about all the blessings he has. He calls home in the midst of the struggle in Paldonia to tell Jenny and his daughter, Casey, how much he loves them.
It also turns out that the manipulative dictator, Venegas, actually cares a great deal for his fellow countrymen. And rather than being ruthless, as is his reputation, he works to make peace, even with those who have betrayed him.
[Spoiler Warning] Ultimately, Jenny and Mason reunite and renew their commitment to each other. Mason realizes that his true purpose is to be a good husband and father, and to be an upright man. While in Paldonia, Mason also learns that he was purposely chosen to take the job in the hope that his anger over the past would drive him to kill Venegas. But instead, Mason makes the honorable choice and protects him. By story’s end, Venegas calls for free elections in his country.
After Mason calls home and says that he’s determined to make it home, we hear Jenny whisper, “Thank God for that.” During their travels together, Mason waits in a pew as Venegas kneels and prays at the altar of a small local church.
We glimpse some nearly naked bikini girls at a pool party. And Mason, Claire and Venegas all end up together after taking baths. They’re all naked, but only seen from the waist up. (Claire holds her arm over her exposed breasts.) Comments are made about the size of Mason’s genitals.
We also see Claire dressed but exposing skin on several occasions. In one scene she wears a loose t-shirt and panties, for instance, but seductively lifts her shirt to show Mason a variety of tattoos on various parts of her body (exposing quite a bit of it in the process.) She then sits on a table and pulls him into her embrace, but he pulls away and tells her that he can’t get physical with her.
Mason is shirtless on three or four different occasions, revealing his muscular torso. We see Venegas’ bare backside. We see a busty jogger running in a less-than-supportive top. Mason and Jenny kiss. Venegas kisses Claires hand and seductively purrs in her direction. In fact, several men mention how beautiful she is in person.
There are two different strains of violence in this film. Some of the lighter form involves things such as Mason’s young, eight-year-old daughter, Casey, saying that a boy at school is trying to force her to kiss him. And Mason tells her to punch him in the throat or the crotch. (Which then gets Casey expelled.) Later, Claire punches someone in the throat, reporting that her father taught her that skill, too. There are also some light, comedic pratfalls in the mix, too, such as Claire falling off her horse.
On the other hand, intense action scenes involve men who are shot in the chest, kneecapped, shot point-blank in the forehead, and generally left in a bloody heap. Mason uses a large vehicle to run over combatants and crush them inside smaller vehicles. One guy flies out of a speeding Jeep and splatters his brains across a car’s windshield.
Mason also uses a large caliber rifle to shoot at an oncoming helicopter. We see holes and a bloody splash on the windshield before the craft crashes to the ground and rips up the scenery.
Mason dangles from a tether from a different helicopter, which drags him painfully from tree to tree before the chopper explodes and crashes. Elsewhere, combatants fire large-caliber guns and missiles at people running in a field and trying to cross a deep stream.
Bazooka shells detonate when they smash into armored SUVs. And gun battles break out among heavily armed forces on several occasions. Mason, a skilled marksman, kills scores in the process. Claire is manhandled by thugs and thrown to the ground. She hits a man in the face with a rifle’s stock.
While not present throughout, the film’s dialogue features bursts of foul language that ultimately include 10 f-words and a half-dozen s-words. We also hear multiple uses of “d–n,” “a–” and “a–hole.” Jesus’ and God’s names are misused a few times. Several people display rude hand-gestures, including a small baby.
We see people drinking heavily at a party. Venegas pours glasses of whiskey for himself and Claire. Claire also sips a local alcoholic beverage at a village gathering.
Characters allege that the U.S. government (and, in connection, American businesses) has manipulated world affairs in negative and sometimes deadly ways. For instance, Mason learns that his fellow soldiers were actually shot down by friendly fire. Venegas tells an acquaintance that Mason is his “new American friend.” And the guy replies, “You really have hit bottom, haven’t you?”
A drunk person vomits.
Freelance is a film of unexpected and head-jerking contrasts.
One moment, it’s almost a slapstick comedy. The next, the story flexes its sinewy muscles in instances of very bloody action. The film makes strong political statements about the negative American and corporate influence in the world, all while romping through silly action scenarios.
Then there are the dual-minded characters to consider.
Freelance features a notorious banana-republic despot who also sincerely cares about the people he governs. We also meet a fame-hungry journalist who’s fervent about journalistic integrity. And there’s a muscle-bound he-man who’s upright and loyal to his wife and family when faced with temptation.
Perhaps the most unexpected contrast is the fact that this pic ping-pongs back and forth between being caustically profane one moment, and light-hearted and sweet-spoken the next.
It’s almost as if two different directors created two very different films with the same cast and tried to stitch them together. Perhaps that sort of neck-bolted, thick-stitched construct seems fitting this close to Halloween.
But the resulting film isn’t always a treat.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
