“Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air,” Henry Anatole Grunwald said. He is an American journalist and diplomat best known for his position as managing editor and editor-in-chief of Time magazine.
A new action-comedy movie released Oct. 27 titled “Freelance” and it showcased how well you can mix the two genres without the film feeling stale.
The movie follows Mason Pettits, portrayed by John Cena, an ex-special forces operative. He accepts a job as security to protect a famous journalist named Claire Wellington, portrayed by Alison Brie, as she gets an interview with a dictator of Paldonia, President Venegas, portrayed by Juan Pablo Raba. But when a military coup attempts to murder the president, they are forced to escape through a jungle where they must survive.
The film was unpredictable with the amount of turns it showed and not knowing what the characters would attempt to do next. Through the first half of the movie, Pettits becomes frustrated with Venegas as he believed Venegas was the one who killed his military friends from a helicopter as they were sent there to kill Venegas, so this brought a different aspect in the dynamics between the characters.
The movie had some incredible comedic moments in the film while also not getting too much in the way of the action and suspense that was needed. Throughout the film, President Venegas takes every chance he gets to make jokes surrounding Pettits’ last name. Pettits’ jokes throughout the film felt natural as well and those jokes were in line with the plot.
This was one of the better movies that Cena has been in as his on-screen dynamic with Brie made for a wonderful sight to revel in. The dynamic between the three main characters was great as they showed the different emotions they had for one another.
Director Pierre Morel did an incredible job depicting the different aspects needed for the film and the pacing of the film felt great in its one-hour and 48-minute runtime.
With a budget of $40 million, the box office weekend for the movie was abysmal as it gained $2.5 million worldwide. It deserves higher earnings due to how great the movie was.
It was a good watch, but you shouldn’t expect this movie to blow you away. The film stays balanced on comedy, drama, action, spy-thrilling and politics. It’s a laid-back, fun, funny and mildly adventurous action movie.
I would highly recommend this movie to anyone even with its R-rating. If you can handle some swear words and blood, this movie is a great one to watch in theaters. I would give this movie an eight out of 10-star review.
