- 7
...while often grungy and far-fetched, does keep you watching. And in January, that's recommendation enough.
—Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly
- 6
The absurdity of the story in the largely thrill-free thriller Contraband, its hairpin twists and outrageous coincidences, may keep even hungry action fans away. That's too bad because the story doesn't matter. (It rarely does.)
—Manohla Dargis New York Times
- 6
...so super complicated (implausible?) that in the wrong hands it would be laughable. Instead, this very gritty bit of greased action does a decent job of shaking the sluggish out of January.
—Betsy Sharkey Los Angeles Times
- 6
This solid if disposable genre exercise maintains a hard-driving line of action and a commitment to one-damned-thing-after-another storytelling that carries it past any number of narrative speedbumps and preposterous detours.
—Justin Chang Variety
- 6
Kormákur and his collaborators want to tell a simple story cleanly, efficiently, and with a refreshing dearth of frills. They more or less realize their aspirations because they aim so low.
—Nathan Rabin Onion AV Club
- 6
The lead role of a working class former smuggler who dirties his hands again to save his family fits Mark Wahlberg like a glove.
—Todd McCarthy Hollywood Reporter
- 6
Wahlberg has the presence, the glower and the laconic line readings to guide us through a mess of pain, painlessly.
—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune
- 5
...a shift-job genre movie - not a bad day's work, content to match the blocky trudge of its star rather than attempt panache.
—Nick Pinkerton Village Voice
- 5
...crap...
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 5
...has a few moments of tension, but it adheres to a predictable heist formula hardly worth trafficking in.
—Claudia Puig USA Today
- 5
...the cinematic equivalent of watching someone lay expensive tile. You appreciate the effort, the end result looks pretty good, but the process of getting there is as dull as any tedious, slow step-by-step exercise.
—Bill Gibron filmcritic.com
- 5
Wahlberg could sleepwalk through this role, and does. See this movie and you'll surely follow his lead.
—Peter Travers Rolling Stone
- 3
It's exactly the sort of movie that Hollywood specializes in, the kind which seems on paper as if it ought to be entertaining, but winds up a massive and chaotic drag.
—Andrew O'Hehir Salon
- 2
...aims to be dumb fun but gets only the first half right.
—Kyle Smith New York Post
- 2
...a tale of high-seas smuggling without a clever thought in its leaden, derivative head.
—Nick Schager Slant Magazine